Playtika offers to buy 'Angry Birds' maker Rovio for €683 million
FILE PHOTO: Angry Birds game characters are seen at the Rovio headquarters in Espoo, Finland March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Anne Kauranen/File Photo
Israeli gaming firm Playtika Holding Corp said on Thursday it offered to buy Finnish game maker Rovio, best known for its "Angry Birds" franchise, for €683 million (US$737.50 million) in a sweetened all-cash deal.
The offer price of 9.08 euros per share represents a premium of about 60 per cent to Rovio's close of trading on Jan 19.
Rovio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Playtika's offer is roughly €40 million more than its previous offer in November.
Shares of Playtika were down 4.7 per cent.
The latest offer comes as the gaming industry is going through a round of consolidation. Last year, Microsoft offered to buy Activision Blizzard for US$69 billion, while Sony Interactive Entertainment said it would acquire Bungie, the original creator of the "Halo" videogame, in a deal valued at US$3.6 billion.
