Playtika offers $738 million to Rovio, maker of Angry Birds.

(Reuters) -Playtika Holding Corp has increased its offer for Finnish gamemaker Rovio to 683 million Euros ($737.50 Million), as industry consolidation accelerates.

Rovio’s shares are valued at 9.05 euros each, approximately 60% more than their closing price Jan. 19. It is also approximately 40 million Euros higher than an unnamed offer Israel’s Playtika made November.

Rovio, a Finnish company based in Espoo declined to comment. Its shares closed at $5.67, 2.5% less than the Finnish bourse. Playtika lost 2.6% in U.S. trades.

Rovio’s ride to public ownership in September 2017 at $11.50 has been turbulent. The company’s growth is still heavily dependent upon the Angry Birds franchise despite its efforts to diversify through acquisitions like Turkish Ruby Games 2021.

After two years’ of boom-driven pandemics, the game maker is also being caught in a wider industry slowdown.

According to NewZoo’s estimates, mobile gaming revenues worldwide fell by more than 6% to $92.2Billion in 2022.

Rovio’s offer represents the latest consolidation sign in the sector. Microsoft is currently buying Activision Blizzard, which will cost $69 billion. Sony Interactive Entertainment also purchased Bungie Inc, the creator of Halo videogames, for $3.6billion.

Playtika, a maker of poker-style apps and games for solitaire and casino, announced last month that it would be laying off 15% of its employees. The shares of the company have halved last year and it is consolidating its studios.

($1 = 0.9261 euros)

(Reporting by Tiyashi in Bengaluru; Editing By Maju Samuel, Devika Syamnath