No need to sell shares, Angry Birds maker says
Cash-rich Rovio pours cold water on market hopes for a major fundraising exercise in HK
Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment has no plans to list shares in Hong Kong this year, a senior executive said, scotching market expectations for a major capital-raising by the maker of the video game that has become a smartphone sensation since its 2009 launch.
Peter Vesterbacka, the chief marketing officer of the privately held Finnish firm, said the company was cash-rich and had no need to tap public markets for funds.
"Right now, we are perfectly happy where we are at. We are growing very nicely. We can fund our own growth," Vesterbacka told reporters. "If we at some point need to list the company, we'll do it."
We are perfectly happy where we are at. We are growing very nicely
Rovio reported a 101 per cent jump in revenues to €152.2 million (HK$1.6 billion) in 2012. Profit after tax was €55.5 million, compared with €35.4 million in 2011. It said downloads of its games had topped 1.7 billion by April this year.
Vesterbacka was quoted floating the idea of a share sale in Hong Kong in a Reuters report in December 2011, after Rovio chief executive Mikael Hed said earlier that year that the firm was aiming for a New York listing within two or three years.
Market speculation has been running high since that a listing of shares worth about US$1 billion would take place by the end of this year.
But Vesterbacka, speaking to journalists earlier this week on a tour to Finland organised by the country's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, said there was always speculation.