Israel’s Playtika has made a purchase offer for Rovio
PLAYTICS OF ISRAEL on Thursday announced that it has made a non-binding offer to buy Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish creator of Angry Birds.
Playtika revealed that it is offering €9.05 per share in the games and entertainment studio, a 60 percent premium to Thursday’s closing price. Rovio confirmed Friday morning that its board has received the initial offer and is evaluating it.
The value of the studio’s offer is slightly more than 750 million euros.
Rovio announced on Friday stock exchange bulletin which is not currently negotiating with Playtika. It added that its board is evaluating the indicative offer to decide whether and how to proceed with it.
The preliminary proposal, the release reminds, is subject to the fulfillment of several conditions, including the satisfactory completion of the due diligence review, the final approval of the Playtika board of directors, the unanimous and unconditional recommendation of the Rovio board of directors, and the conclusion of a merger agreement between Rovio and Playtika.
The studio’s shares rose by 38 percent on Friday.
The non-binding offer is Playtika’s second attempt to buy Rovio. In November 2022, the Israel-based company made an undisclosed offer of EUR 8.50 per share for the entertainment studio. According to Helsingin Sanomat.
The newspaper wrote that Playtika has made a couple of acquisitions in the country in recent years, as it has sought to grow and expand its offering beyond casino games. In reality, the developer of Best Fiends was acquired for an undisclosed price in 2019, and Reworks, the studio behind Redecor, for around €340 million in 2021.
In 2020, Finland’s fourth largest studio Seriily was closed less than three years after the acquisition, which led to the dismissal of 124 employees in Helsinki in 2022.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT