(Helsinki) The shareholders of the Finnish developer and publisher of video games Rovio, have largely given the green light to the takeover offer of Japanese competitor Sega, announced Thursday the Finnish company, owner of the cult franchise Angry Birds.

Sega’s offer, which values ​​Rovio at more than 700 million euros ($1.03 billion), was approved almost unanimously by 96.3% of Rovio shareholders, according to a press release from the Finnish group.

The takeover was subject to approval by more than 90% of shareholders.

“With all conditions met,” Rovio points out, both parties can now finalize the takeover.

This operation marks the end of the independence of the video game sector in Finland, which had seen its peak in 2009 with the launch, on a highly competitive global market, of the famous mobile video game franchise Angry Birds.

For Sega, this acquisition in Europe is part of the “long term” in a growth strategy in the video game market on mobile media, explained the CEO of the Japanese group Haruki Satomi when announcing the takeover project in april.

In 2016, the film Angry Birds, produced by Sony, was a very big worldwide success and generated some 469 million dollars in revenue. Rovio also owns several Angry Birds theme parks around the world and owns the rights to all spin-off publications, which are released in a dozen languages.

But he remained a prisoner of his success with Angry Birds, without managing to find another star game. In 2022, the Finnish group, which employs 500 people, achieved a turnover of 469 million, and a net profit of 46.3 million.

This operation is part of a vast global restructuring of a very lucrative sector, valued at several hundred billion dollars.