Angry Birds Maker Announces Plans for IPO

September 5, 2017 by Chris Lange

Rovio Entertainment, the maker of the wildly successful mobile game Angry Birds, has announced that it plans to go public with an initial public offering (IPO). However, it will not be debuting in the United States. Instead, Rovio will be selling its shares on the Helsinki exchange.

The underwriters for the offering are Carnegie Bank, Danske Bank and Deutsche Bank.

The company did not disclose exact pricing details but some are estimating the offering would be valued up to about $400 million. At this valuation the entire company would be worth roughly $2 billion.

Rovio has put out multiple iterations of Angry Birds that have been downloaded over a billion times. The firm’s biggest success is Angry Birds 2, a follow-up to the original title, which was the best-earning app in Apple’s U.S. store in 2010.

Its feature film, “Angry Birds,” grossed roughly $350 million worldwide and a sequel is planned for release in September 2019.

Many are saying that the announcement of this IPO is a turning point for the company that has struggled financially since it released the original mobile game back in 2009.

Recently Rovio reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results, posting revenue growth of 94% to a total of €86.2 million (about $102.8 million), with its games business increasing sales 65% to €61.3 million. According to Bloomberg, the firm is benefiting from a new strategy that places more focus on in-game purchasing and advertising instead of paid downloads.

The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering to further fund its “Angry Birds Movie 2.” The remainder is expected to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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