Playtika tables 683 million euro offer to acquire Angry Birds creator Rovio
Playtika tables 683 million euro offer to acquire Angry Birds creator Rovio
“We firmly believe the combination of Rovio’s renowned IP and scale of its user base, together with our best-in-class monetization and game operations capabilities, will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” said Playtika CEO Robert Antokol
Israeli-founded gaming company Playtika announced on Thursday that it has submitted a revised proposal to the Board of Directors of Rovio Entertainment Corporation, the creator of popular franchise Angry Birds, to acquire the company for 9.05 euro per share in cash, valuing the company at 683 million euro.
The offer price represents a premium of about 60% to Rovio's close of trading on Thursday. Playtika's offer is roughly 40 million euros more than its previous offer in November.
At the present time, no agreement has been entered into between Playtika and Rovio and there is no assurance that any transaction will materialize or eventually be completed.
“We firmly believe the combination of Rovio’s renowned IP and scale of its user base, together with our best-in-class monetization and game operations capabilities, will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” said Playtika Chief Executive Officer Robert Antokol.
Just last month, Playtika announced that it was laying off 610 employees, accounting for 15% of its workforce, which had numbered 4,100 people. Playtika also laid off 250 employees from its offices in Los Angeles, Montreal and London, in May.
Playitka revealed last month that Joffre Capital, which was set to purchase a 25.5% (106 million shares) share in Playtika, pulled out from the deal. In June, the Chinese consortium which currently controls Playtika agreed a deal with Joffre Capital at an $8.5 billion company valuation.
Playtika went public at an $11.1 billion valuation in January 2021 in what was the biggest IPO of an Israeli-founded company. Playtika currently has a market cap of around $3.4 billion, and has $600 million in cash.
Founded in 2010 by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak, Playtika was acquired in May 2011 by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. In July 2016, the company's operations were acquired by a Chinese consortium at a valuation of $4.4 billion.
