Finland — Rovio Entertainment Oy, the company behind the Angry Birds game, could possibly receive additional funding that would value the company at nearly $1.2 billion, Bloomberg reported today.
According to two undisclosed parties, the company is taking a strategic investment from a company in the entertainment business, although the parties didn’t disclose the company’s identity. If true, this would not be the first time Rovio has been approached by potential investors.
The Finland-based company is said to be planning to use the money for expansion of its popular mobile game into other markets, including a possible movie, stuffed animals and clothing sales at nearly 200 retail stores in and outside of China.
Managing director of research at Wedbush Securities Inc., Michael Pachter suspects possible game developers may include Walt Disney Co, Electronic Arts Inc., Zynga and News Corp.
“I can see how Disney would take Angry Birds and turn them into a theme-park ride and a movie,” said Pachter. “Zynga could take Angry Birds and make it into ‘FarmVille.’”
Angry Birds, which has been downloaded over 300 million times, reports having over 40 million monthly active users.
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http://tinyurl.com/4xwp2sz (Bloomberg)
Photo by flickr user etee, used under Creative Commons license
