- By Peter Hoskins
- Business reporter
Angry Birds games have been some of the most popular games of the past decade
Rovio Entertainment, the Angry Birds video game maker, has agreed to be acquired by Japanese game giant Sega Sammy Holdings.
The deal will see Sega, best known for its Sonic the Hedgehog character, pay €706m (£625m) for the company.
In February, Finland-based Rovio announced that it had launched a review of the company, including discussions about a potential sale.
On Saturday, it confirmed it was in talks with Sega.
Rovio held talks earlier this year with Israeli rival Playtica Holding about a possible takeover. However, those discussions ended last month without agreement.
Finland-based Rovio is best known for the Angry Birds brand, which started as a popular mobile game in 2009.
Rovio said that Angry Birds was the first mobile game to be downloaded 1 billion times.
It has seen several spin-offs, and the brand has also produced two Angry Birds movies.
Last year, the company said downloads across its game portfolio hit five billion.
However, Rovio has yet to come up with a follow-up to remake the worldwide popularity of Angry Birds.
This has made him a potential takeover target for major game makers.
Rovio employs approximately 550 employees across its eight game studios around the world.
At the end of trading on Friday, Rovio’s stock market valuation was $707m (£571m).
Sega Sammy is a Japanese global holding company formed from the merger of video game giant Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004.
Sega has produced several million-selling video game franchises and is known worldwide for its Sonic the Hedgehog character.
Sami develops and sells amusement arcade machines.
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