Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. shares 6460, -3.00% fell sharply Monday morning following news that it is nearing an agreement to acquire the Finnish videogame developer behind the “Angry Birds” mobile game for about $1 billion.
The shares were recently 4.5% lower at 2,543 yen after falling as much as 6.1% earlier.
The Japanese videogame and entertainment company behind the Sonic the Hedgehog character could seal a deal to buy Finnish company Rovio Entertainment Oyj ROVIO, +1.11% by early this week, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Sega Sammy said Monday that it was considering buying Rovio and its board planned to discuss a potential deal later in the day, but no formal decision had been made.
Rovio previously was in talks to sell itself to Playtika Holding Corp., an Israel-based rival, for more than $800 million.
The Finnish game developer hasn’t managed to replicate the success of “Angry Birds” with subsequent games, making the company susceptible to a takeover by a bigger rival.
Sega Sammy said it would make a disclosure once it makes any decision on the potential acquisition.
The Japanese company in February projected it would book Y31.50 billion ($235.4 million) in net profit on revenue of Y381.50 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31.
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