Surely you will remember that last Saturday we told you that Sega could be finalizing the purchase of Rovio. Well, although not all the details of that information have turned out to be correct, the main aspect of said news has been confirmed only two days later and officially, through a statement published by Sega in which it confirms not only its interest, but also the positive reception of it by Rovio.
As we can read in said statement, the purchase amount will be less than 1,000 million dollars. In said official communication, the Japanese company affirms that «SEGA intends to acquire all of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options at 9.25 euros per share and 1.48 uros per option, or €706 million in total«. It is a rather less round figure, but we already have evidence that it has been accepted by the studio that created Angry Birds.
Although the information was leaked on Saturday, the operation was still pending approval by Sega’s board of directors, which has met today to assess its terms and give it its approval. We can understand, however, that its terms had already been previously discussed by its members, so today’s meeting was only a necessary formality to start the operation.
Regarding both the current situation as it relates to Rovio and its shareholders, and regarding possible actions by regulators, Sega states the following:
«The Acquisition is a friendly takeover bid, as Rovio’s board of directors has agreed, and has expressed its support for the Tender Offer. Rovio shareholders who collectively own shares corresponding to approximately 49.1 percent of Rovio’s outstanding shares and votes, have irrevocably agreed to accept the Offer, subject to certain customary conditions. The Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2024/3 and is contingent on the completion of reviews under applicable antitrust laws and other customary conditions.»
In other words, previous negotiations with Rovio would have already guaranteed Sega that it has its approval. And with regard to possible actions by regulators, although they are playing a key role in Microsoft’s purchase of Activision-Blizzard King, in this case we can expect the operation to go ahead without encountering resistance from the same.
Outside of the terms of the transaction, the most interesting thing is that the press release also mentions Sega’s plans to help expand Rovio titles”off mobile games«which points to new Angry Birds titles for consoles, as well as new movies and TV series.
