What's going on?

Sega swooped in with an offer to buy Angry Birds creator Rovio Entertainment on Monday.

What does this mean?

Finland�s Rovio Entertainment soared to the public markets in 2017, riding the tailwinds of Angry Birds � the first mobile game to reach a billion downloads. But that initial hype crash-landed when financial disclosures left investors ruffled, and Rovio�s value took a nosedive it�s never really recovered from. That�s probably one reason that recent months have seen the company fielding buyout offers from a flock of interested parties. And now shareholders seem to have found a satisfactory nest egg: Japanese video game maker Sega flew in with a proposal to acquire Rovio in a nearly $800 million deal � over 60% more than it was worth before rumors of other offers started swirling. And with Sega�s traditional arcade machine business dwindling, doubling down on console and mobile gaming could make sense.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Sega�s feathering its nest.
Sega�s already hatching plans to search for global hits in its own back catalog, with big-budget reboots of classics like Crazy Taxi in the works. And with the global gaming market projected to reach $263 billion by 2026, that could be wise. This latest move could add to that revitalization, too: the mobile gaming sector is poised to grow particularly rapidly � and in three years� time, it�s tipped to account for as much as 56% of the overall gaming market.�

For markets: Lame duck.
Mind you, if Sega�s stock reaction is anything to go by, investors were less than keen on the deal � and that�s understandable. Angry Birds may be a household name, but its best days are probably behind it. To win investors over, then, Sega�s going to have to squeeze every last drop of mobile expertise out of Rovio, making good on promised synergies to prove this bet makes sense.