Angry Birds maker valued at US$1.2B

Angry Birds developer Rovio is in talks for additional funding which would see the company valued at around US$1.2 billion.

Angry Birds developer Rovio is in talks for additional funding which would see the company valued at around US$1.2 billion, according to Bloomberg. While it is reported to have turned down investments from large institutional investors, Rovio is now believed to be in talks with a ‚company in the entertainment business.‚ This would fit with Rovio’s strategy of building Angry Birds as an entertainment brand beyond mobile gaming. It was also suggested that a social gaming company could make an investment ‚ although with Angry Birds being one of the titles available for the launch of Google+ gaming, Rovio appears to be pursuing this strategy for itself.

According to the report, the company would use the cash to fund its growth. It recently announced a move into the Chinese market, with Rovio forecasting 100 million downloads in this country by the end of 2011. The company is also believed to be pursuing an Angry Birds movie, and has already offered other Angry Birds products such as toys. Among the mooted investors were media companies News Corp (Rovio hasworked with subsidiary 20th Century Fox for the launch of Angry Birds Rio) and Walt Disney, and game developers EA and Zynga.

The mobile gaming industry has seen several significant deals in recent weeks, as companies look to bolster their positions in sectors including casual and social gaming. EA is set to pay more than US$1 billion for PopCap. Social gaming giant Zynga has bought Wonderland Studios and Five Mobile, to build its mobile proposition. And Glu recently announced several acquisitions intended to improve its casual mobile capabilities.

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