IPO for ‘Angry Birds’ Creator Rovio as Early as Next Year

4:08 AM PDT 10/14/2011 by Scott Roxborough

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Rovio marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka puts the company’s value at more than $1 billion.

COLOGNE, Germany – Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish company behind the Angry Birds sensation, says it may go public as early as next year and that it is probably worth more than $1 billion.

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In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Rovio chief marketing director Peter Vesterbacka said the company wasn’t ready yet to file for an IPO but could be “maybe a year from now.”

Based on initial funding rounds, Rovio is currently valued at around $1 billion. Vesterbacka, who also goes by the tag Mighty Eagle, said the company was “happy with our valuation but we think it’s probably a bit north of that.”

Since the launch of the simple but addictive slingshot game in 2009, free and paid versions of Angry Birds have been downloaded some 400 million times worldwide, the bulk of those coming this year. Rovio also makes money selling Angry Birds merchandise – around 10 – 20 percent of its business according to Vesterbacka – and is looking to turn its game franchise into a feature film and television series.

To that end, Rovio recently hired former Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel, producer of the Iron Man films, as a special advisor and executive producer for the Angry Birds movies.