Video game giant Zynga is set to acquire Finnish mobile gaming firm Small Giant Games for 610 million euros on 1 January in one of the biggest deals in the sector since Chinese conglomerate Tencent's purchase of Supercell.
Following the acquisition, the five-year-old Helsinki-based mobile game company will continue as a separate studio under social game developer Zynga.
The American company will first purchase an 80-percent stake in Small Giant, absorbing the remaining 20 percent over the next three years.
"Zynga values us and our way of doing things. They want to invest in Finland and use Finnish know-how to reinforce their company," Small Giant Games CEO Timo Soininen told Yle, adding that the Finnish brand will become part of a global company.
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The Finnish studio is known for its mobile game Empires & Puzzles, which Soininen said attracts 1.6 million players daily. The game has been downloaded from app stores over 26 million times since its launch 18 months ago.
"Empires & Puzzles has repeatedly broken into the Top 10 grossing games list on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store," Zynga said in a press release.
Small Giant Games has 47 employees, including alumni from Angry Birds maker Rovio and social web game Habbo Hotel.