Angry Birds' Rovio self-valued at $1 billion, may seek IPO in 2012

The developer of Angry Birds has revealed that it's valued at over $1 billion, and could file for an IPO as early as 2012.

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Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment's chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka has revealed that his company is probably worth more than $1 billion, and could file for an initial public offering as early as next year. The Finnish developer makes additional revenue via advertising, in-game purchases, and physical merchandise, and recently acquired the animation studio, Kombo. The company is currently hiring in both the U.S. and China, and Vesterbacka noted that he "is weighing more acquisitions."

"We're insanely profitable,” Vesterbacka told Bloomberg Television in a recent interview. "We are very, very profitable. We're not a publicly traded company yet, but we can fund our own growth."

Vesterbacka also revealed that the company is working on a "20-year plan" for the Angry Birds brand, across multiple distribution channels.

He claims that the smash-hit mobile game currently has about 150 million "active users," and asserts that merchandise sales account for somewhere between ten and twenty percent of the business. Factor in the upcoming Angry Birds movie plans and a number of past and present promotional tie-ins with other entities like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and Vesterbacka's supposition that Rovio could have "a good shot at being the first entertainment brand that has a billion fans," doesn't seem like a complete pipe dream.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 13, 2011 6:30 PM

    Jeff Mattas posted a new article, Angry Birds' Rovio self-valued at $1 billion, may seek IPO in 2012.

    The developer of Angry Birds has revealed that it's valued at over $1 billion, and could file for an IPO as early as 2012.

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      October 13, 2011 6:41 PM

      JFC.

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      October 13, 2011 6:54 PM

      AngryBirds might be a fun little game but the IP isn't worth $1 Billion. You would think people would learn after the dot bubble burst of the early 2000's.

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      October 13, 2011 6:55 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 13, 2011 6:57 PM

      I have serious trouble believing Rovio is worth $1 billion.

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      October 13, 2011 6:59 PM

      Paper value/dollars only.

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      October 13, 2011 7:16 PM

      It's crazy at how big a small app developer can get

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      October 13, 2011 7:18 PM

      Do they actively work on projects not related to Angry Birds? Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.

      I'm getting tired of hearing about this franchise since it's always the same thing and never changes.

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        October 13, 2011 7:21 PM

        Angry Birds II: Revenge of the swine
        Instead of flinging birds at pigs, you fling pigs at birds. Genius!

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          October 13, 2011 9:16 PM

          that's called thinking outside the box

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        October 13, 2011 8:49 PM

        Plush animals

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      October 13, 2011 7:27 PM

      How can a developer who releases a 99 cent game be worth 1 billion? I think they grossly overestimate their worth. Not to say they're not very profitable, but they also only have 1 friggin' franchise. I can't imagine an IPO sale going as well as they hope.

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        October 13, 2011 7:30 PM

        They have products and all kinds of other stuff. There is so many ways to monetize a business like theirs.

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          October 13, 2011 8:40 PM

          I know some of the guys at work have stuffed Angry Birds animals. I'm assuming that they've sold several thousand of that stuff. If they've sold to all 3 major Smartphone OS's, I wonder how their sales data is for just the basic app.

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            October 13, 2011 8:46 PM

            even if they sold millions of stuffed animals at $20 each it doesn't come anywhere near $1 billion

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              October 13, 2011 8:53 PM

              they are sporting over 4 billion pääomasijoittajat!!!

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              October 13, 2011 9:14 PM

              Agreed, but while I bought the game app, I never got as hardcore as some people. What kind of merchandising are the doing with their' properties too? That's what I wonder.

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              October 13, 2011 10:23 PM

              Right but the valuation of a company doesn't just tally up their current profits, as they will continue to create new products and sell them.

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              October 14, 2011 12:19 AM

              What if they sold 50 million of them?

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        October 13, 2011 8:55 PM

        [deleted]

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      October 13, 2011 8:54 PM

      those birds are super recognisable. even here in Beijing they sell the plush things, and I see people walking around with the t-shirts. of all the iPhone and android games i'd say those birds are most popular.

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      October 13, 2011 9:04 PM

      Those Chrome commercials on TV with them are terrible.

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      October 13, 2011 9:17 PM

      What is with some of you guys and this franchise? You get so rage filled over an iphone game some of us happen to enjoy

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      October 13, 2011 9:53 PM

      A 20 year plan? Ask Pac Man how that worked out for him.

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      October 13, 2011 11:26 PM

      meanwhile the flash castle game guy just jumped off his roof

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      October 14, 2011 12:15 AM

      They're worth a billion if they've managed to get my mom to have Angry Birds music as her ring tone

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      October 14, 2011 12:17 AM

      self. valued. "Hey guys, I'm worth $100,000,000,000. I could IPO. You should totally believe me, and care."

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      October 14, 2011 12:58 AM

      I watched their theme tune played by the London Orchestra with node and silentbobuk a little while ago. They are pretty huge at this point.

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      October 14, 2011 2:08 AM

      Oh man beanie babies used to be valued at over a billion. So did pogs. And icecapades! Oh man remember that? People dancing, on ice.

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      October 14, 2011 9:08 AM

      How is a company worth $1 billion when I've never given them a dime for farting around with their repetitive games? How do they make money?

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      October 14, 2011 9:33 AM

      So Valve, with technology like Steam and IPs like Left 4 Dead, Portal, Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and Counter-Strike, is probably worth $2-4 billion according to Forbes.

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverchiang/2011/02/15/valve-and-steam-worth-billions/

      I know alot of people know Angry Birds, but I can't imagine that something that simple is worth $1 billion. They hit a gold mine once, is it likely they'll do it again?

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        October 14, 2011 9:37 AM

        No they need to milk it. Like Mario or sonic back in the day. Angry birds is Mario brothers of the mobile device era

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        October 14, 2011 9:39 AM

        [deleted]

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          October 14, 2011 2:31 PM

          Personally I see a pretty massive parallel between the dot.com days and all these disposable games.

          Zynga and Rovio are both supposed to be valued at over a billion each, and all they've done is make simple games that no-one will remember in 10 years. At least I hope to have forgotten about those companies by then.

          I've never played a zynga title, and I can honestly say the appeal of angry birds lasted about an hour. I just don't understand the appeal.

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      October 16, 2011 6:41 AM

      Economy Bubble? In the IT Sector? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

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