Sega, a popular Japanese video games group, has offered $770 million to buy Finnish company Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, the company said on Monday.

In a statement made today, Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, the CEO of Rovio, said, “Combining the strengths of Rovio and Sega presents an incredibly exciting future,” while urging shareholders to accept the offer.

Sega is expected to open the offer period early next month and hopes to get the deal over the line by the third quarter of this year.

‘Angry Birds’ is a bird slingshot game launched by Rovio in 2009 and immediately rose to become one of the most popular mobile games – a 2016 ‘Angry Birds’ was also a success, grossing $350 million worldwide.

The offer by Sega would see the Japanese company snatch up 19 per cent of Rovio going by Friday’s closing share price – Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said it “was part of the Sonic the Hedgehog maker’s long-term goal” of expanding into the mobile gaming market.

Despite the success over the past years, Rovio has failed to develop another similar hit mobile game and has been heavily reliant on its flagship ‘Angry Birds’ and was forced to lay off a third of its staff in 2015. 

Meanwhile in 2022, Rovio earned a huge $350 million in revenue and an adjusted net profit of $34.5 million, VOA reported.