Sega has completed its acquisition of Rovio

Sega has officially completed its acquisition of Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment.

In April, Sega Sammy Holdings stated its plans to make a ‘Tender Offer’ to acquire “the entirety of Rovio’s outstanding shares and options”, at a total cost of of €706 million ($776 million).

Today the official Sega Twitter account posted an image of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles teaming up with the Angry Birds, confirming that the merger had been completed.

The tweet reads: “Welcome to the Sega family, Rovio! We’re so thrilled to celebrate Rovio becoming a member of the Sega Group. Get ready for exciting adventures ahead.”

When announced in April, the acquisition was considered a ‘friendly takeover’, as Sega stated that Rovio’s board of directors had “agreed to and expressed support towards the Tender Offer”.

Sega had also stated that it expected to close the deal by the end of September.

According to its statement at the time, Sega has acquired the Angry Birds studio to bolster its own live service mobile game portfolio.

It wants to use “Rovio’s distinctive know-how in live service mobile game operation to bring Sega’s current and new titles to the global mobile gaming market, where there is large potential.”

At the same time, Sega also claims that Rovio wants to go beyond mobile games and wants to help it accomplish this.

“Rovio is aiming to expand its platform outside of mobile gaming, and Sega will actively look to support this process through its capabilities,” it says.

Sega Sammy Holdings president and group CEO Haruki Satomi said in April: “Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has especially high potential, and it has been Sega’s long-term goal to accelerate its expansion in this field.

“I feel blessed to be able to announce such a transaction with Rovio, a company that owns Angry Birds, which is loved across the world, and home to many skilled employees that support the company’s industry leading mobile game development and operating capabilities.

“Historically, as represented by the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sega has released countless video game titles to various gaming platforms. I am confident that, through combination of both companies’ brands, characters, fanbase, as well as corporate culture and functionality, there will be significant synergies created going forward.”