Japan’s Sega, the company behind Sonic the Hedgehog, is buying Rovio Entertainment in a cash deal that values the creator of Angry Birds at €706 million . The Finnish video game developer’s board has unanimously backed the takeover offer, which is also already supported by shareholders owning 49.1% of the company’s stock, Rovio said in a statement Monday. The company’s shares surged 18% to €9.16 per share in Helsinki. Sega Sammy Holdings\n \n has offered €9.
The game has evolved into a successful franchise with animations, merchandise and theme parks. Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, CEO of Rovio, who said he grew up playing Sonic the Hedgehog, predicted “an incredibly exciting future” in combining the strengths of the game makers. The acquisition is part of Sega’s five-year strategy to invest up to €1.7 billion , with a focus on growing its mobile gaming businesses.
Well that's something I wasn't expecting to see. 👀👀
🤔