informa
2 MIN READ
News

Angry Birds maker Rovio confirms it's planning an IPO

The move has been heavily rumored in recent months, and now the Finnish mobile studio hopes to strengthen its position after its games division experienced its best year to date.

Angry Birds house Rovio has confirmed it plans to sell shares through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Helsinki stock exchange. 

The move has been heavily rumored in recent months, and now the Finnish outfit hopes to strengthen its position after its games division experienced its best year to date.

Rovio hasn't revealed how much it hopes to raise, though it did explain the IPO will likely consist of a secondary share sale by majority backers, including main owner Kaj Hed, and a new share issue worth around €30 million ($35.7 million). 

The company also neglected to stick an official valuation on the sale, but last month people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg an IPO could see Rovio valued at around $2 billion. 

"Through our games-first strategy, we have strengthened our games portfolio and improved the key performance indicators," said company CEO, Kati Levoranta. 

"All of our recent launches have shown better performance in key performance indicators than any previously launched Rovio game, thus suggesting additional growth potential ahead."

"I am confident in our games-first strategy. The contemplated IPO and listing are an important milestone in developing Rovio into an even stronger games-first entertainment company."

All the talk might be about that "games-first strategy," but the Angry Birds Movie also played its part in Rovio's revival, with the animated flick making $350 million on a budget of $73 million. With that in mind, it's thought any cash raised will be spent on developing new titles and producing a movie sequel. 

Looking at its most recent financials, Rovio almost doubled its year-over year revenue during the second quater of 2017. The solid performances of its existing games lineup, combined with The Angry Bird Movie's box office success, bumped revenues up by 94 percent to €86.2 million ($101.3 million). 

Revenue in the company's games division rose by 65 percent to €61.3 million ($72 million). That surge was largely driven by a 40 percent increase in the total number of monthly paying users, and a 51 percent rise in revenue per monthly paying user. 

New releases Battle Bay and Angry Birds Evolution  also launched with the highest ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) the company has ever seen, which Levoranta says is proof that the company's games-first strategy is paying off. 

Latest Jobs

Sucker Punch Productions

Hybrid (Bellevue, WA, USA)
11.30.23
Senior Programmer

The Pyramid Watch

Remote
11.22.23
Game Designer (RTS/MOBA)

Sucker Punch Productions

Hybrid (Bellevue, WA, USA)
11.30.23
Senior Technical Combat Designer

Digital Extremes

Remote
11.13.23
Lead AI Programmer
More Jobs   

CONNECT WITH US

Explore the
Advertise with
Follow us

Game Developer Job Board

Game Developer

@gamedevdotcom

Explore the

Game Developer Job Board

Browse open positions across the game industry or recruit new talent for your studio

Browse
Advertise with

Game Developer

Engage game professionals and drive sales using an array of Game Developer media solutions to meet your objectives.

Learn More
Follow us

@gamedevdotcom

Follow us @gamedevdotcom to stay up-to-date with the latest news & insider information about events & more