Angry Birds Creator Rovio Preparing for 2013 IPO

Rovio Entertainment, the creator of the popular mobile game Angry Birds, is looking to go public in 2013 after a knockout 2011.

Rovio, which was founded in 2003, is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) next year in either New York or Hong Kong. Analysts have valued the company at $9 billion.

The Finnish video game developer launched Angry Birds in 2009, and has seen massive success ever since. The game has seen over 800 million downloads, and had 200 million active users monthly by the end of 2011.

Back in March, Rovio unleashed its latest Angry Birds release alongside NASA engineers called Angry Birds Space. In the first 35 days of launch, Angry Birds Space hit 50 million downloads, making it the fastest growing mobile game ever. The game allows PC, Mac, iOS and Android users to launch various types of birds at the green pigs using a whole new set of moves based on a zero-gravity environment. It offers 60 levels with six new characters and powers.

But Rovio’s success doesn’t end at the Angry Birds games. Last year, Rovio said one million plush toys and one million Angry Birds T-shirts were being sold on a monthly basis. In addition, the game was locked into a film deal with 20th Century Fox, where Rovio was able to release an Angry Birds “Rio” version based on the 2011 children’s movie.

In 2011, Rovio’s profit before tax was at $48 million on sales of $99 million. This was a huge boost from 2010’s revenues of about $10 million. Rovio also raised $42 million from venture capital firms last year.

According to the Angry Birds maker, 2012 is expected to look just as good. Rovio plans to release many more Angry Birds and non-Angry Birds-related titles, and is aided by an increased cell phone sales outlook. The company has also placed large investments in branding, brand protection and product development.

“2012 looks fantastic,” said Mikael Hed, Rovio CEO. “We have had some very strong download numbers over four months.”

Rovio hasn’t mentioned any other specifics regarding the upcoming IPO, but Rovio head of Investor Relations Anders Lindeberg said the company is preparing itself for a 2013 IPO.