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Rovio eyes $1 billion valuation for October IPO

Listing could pave the way for acquisitions

Rovio eyes $1 billion valuation for October IPO

Rovio has revealed a preliminary price range of between $12.25 (€10.25) and $13.74 (€11.5) per share for its upcoming IPO.

The developer is expecting to be valued at between $958 million (€802 million) and $1.07 billion (€896 million) following the offering. This is based on the assumption it well sell €30 million worth of new shares.

Rovio's majority shareholder, Trema International Holdings, the holding company of Kaj Hed, who’s the father of one-time Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, will also be selling a number of its shares in the developer. It will still retain a 36.6% stake in the company following the IPO.

Taking flight

In total, Rovio will be offering up 54.6% of its shares to potential investors. The IPO has been restricted to investors in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

The subscription period is set to begin on September 18th and close on September 26th. Rovio will then be officially listed on Nasdaq Helsinki on October 3rd under the code "ROVIO".

The company said the objective of the IPO is to help grow the company further and obtain funds for potential acquisitions and remuneration of personnel.

"The mobile gaming market is expected to grow fast and Rovio has grown faster than the market in recent years," said Rovio CEO Kati Levoranta.

"In the core of our strategy there is a principle to only launch games that have potential to reach top grossing lists and have a long life-time. Our latest game releases prove that we have reached our goal.

But Rovio is much more than just a gaming company. Angry Birds-branded consumer products are already sold in some 120 counties and the first Angry Birds Movie, released in 2016, was an international box-office success.

"The listing is an important step in developing Rovio into an even stronger games-first entertainment company."

Rovio announced its plans to IPO earlier in September 2017. For more information on what it could mean for the developer, be sure to read our detailed breakdown of the announcement.


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.