Technology

Angry Birds resurgence prompts share sale

IPO could value company at €2 billion

The Angry Birds game is enjoying a resurgence

Tue Sep 5 2017 - 14:16

Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment Oy plans to sell shares in a Helsinki initial public offering, seeking funds to support its resurgence seven years after releasing its best-selling mobile-game title.

Main owner Kaj Hed (62) and some other holders will sell shares, and Rovio will offer about €30 million of new stock, the company said on Tuesday, without providing a total value for the sale.

The IPO could value the maker of the Angry Birds mobile games and movie at about $2 billion, sources said.

Rovio has emerged from a slump after changing the way it charges for game playing, and an IPO gives chief executive officer Kati Levoranta ammunition to develop new titles.

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The listing is set to test investors’ appetite for entertainment software, a group whose shares have barely budged from their offer prices following IPOs this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Success

Mobile-game makers often struggle to replicate the success of initial blockbusters. King Digital Entertainment, the creator of Candy Crush, was acquired in 2015 for a 20 per cent discount to its IPO price amid revenue declines. And Netmarble Games, the maker of the Lineage and Stone Age mobile games – and South Korea's biggest listing in seven years – has declined about 4 per cent since its shares started trading in May.

A $2 billion valuation would translate into a $1.4 billion fortune for Mr Hed, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He holds about 69 per cent of Rovio after investing €1 million more than a decade ago into the company co-founded by his nephew Niklas Hed.

Proceeds from an IPO could also help the company fund the Angry Birds Movie 2 planned for 2019. The company's first film in the franchise, released last year, made about $350 million in worldwide box-office sales.

– Bloomberg

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