After four long months in the nest, Sega’s acquisition of Rovio is finally home to roost.
With approval from all necessary and relevant regulators, and an agreement that Sega Europe will take ownership of a minimum 90% of Rovio shares, the deal has finally been completed. In short, this means one key thing: Sega owns Rovio.
…Almost.
So many shares
The early chirps of a possible Rovio acquisition actually posed Playtika as the potential future parent, one of a number of suitors. Although, it didn’t take long for the narrative to focus in on Sega with strong rumours that Sega Sammy Holdings – the Sonic creator’s parent company – was close to closing a $1 billion deal.
Confirmation came in mid-April that a €706 million ($775 million) deal had been agreed upon between Sega and Rovio – short of the rumoured $1 billion, but still a mighty agreement.
Interestingly, since news of this acquisition took wind, Sega has been cooling off on blockchain gaming.
A friendly takeover with full backing from the Rovio board, the proposed deal was for Sega to purchase all of Rovio’s outstanding shares at €9.25 per share and €1.48 per option, and required at least a 90% threshold. Rovio’s shareholders have since tendered 96.3% of issued and outstanding shares to Sega, meeting this target.
The deal has even been closed ahead of time, with initial ambitions for completing it in September 2023; completion of the deal is now estimated for a week today, on 17 August 2023.
Upon completion, the Angry Birds creator will become part of the Sega family, opening up so many more opportunities for crossovers and collaborations between major IPs; Sonic did once appear in an Angry Birds game, after all.
From Sega’s perspective, the acquisition should come with other big benefits too, such as an expansion of both fanbases and a new ability to tap into Rovio’s knowledge of the all-important mobile gaming sphere.
