Acquisition talks between Rovio Entertainment, the Finland-based Computer Games company behind Angry Birdsand lover Playtika, the Israeli group behind online games and casino-style shooting simulator 1V1.LOLhave ended without a deal.
“Preliminaries between Rovio and Playtika are now terminated,” Playtika said on Tuesday without providing further details.
Rovio made a similar statement. “Rovio’s board of directors continues its strategic review, including preliminary non-binding discussions with certain other parties, to achieve the best possible outcome for Rovio and its shareholders,” it also added. “There can be no assurance that the strategic review and preliminary non-binding discussions will result in an all-cash offer or other offer or transaction, or the pricing of any such potential transaction.”
Playtika had made a sweeter offer of €9.05 ($9.74) per share, or €683 million ($735 million), for Rovio in January in one of the latest consolidation moves in the gaming company. The non-binding offer, made on January 19, was a premium of approximately 60 percent over Rovio’s closing price at the time.
Rovio then said on Feb. 6 that its board of directors had decided to launch a strategic review. As part of that, Rovio entered into preliminary non-binding talks “with certain parties”, including Playtika.
Helsinki-listed shares of Rovio fell more than 2 percent in early Tuesday trading.
The play space has been full of consolidation moves. For example, Microsoft is in talks with regulators about its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard, maker of Duty And World of Warcraftfor $69 billion. Previously acquired Sony Interactive Entertainmentfor $3.6 billion, Halo creator Bungie. And Purchased Take-Two interactive software mobile gaming powerhouse Zynga (Farm village, Words With Friends).
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Playtika revealed plans to lay off about 600 employees, 15 percent of its workforce, as it consolidates studios to focus on its “core products.”