Angry Birds maker considering IPO

Rovio, the Finnish creator of the popular Angry Birds game may go public next year, said the company's chief marketing officer, Peter Vesterbacka.

"We're not ready to file for an IPO tomorrow, maybe a year from now," Vesterbacka, who goes by the title "Mighty Eagle", said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Based on funding talks, Rovio is valued at over US$1 billion, the media outlet noted, citing people familiar with the discussions.

"We're happy with our valuation but we think it's probably a bit north of that," said Vesterbacka. Rovio had taken over Finnish animation studio Kombo and is considering more acquisitions, he added.

According to Vesterbacka, the company is "insanely profitable", with merchandise such as Angry Birds stuffed toys selling a million units a month.   and even though they are not a publicly traded one, they can fund their own growth. "We're not a publicly traded company yet but we can fund our own growth," he told Bloomberg.

Merchandise accounts for 10 to 20 percent of the business, he shared, adding that advertising and in- game purchases also contribute to the company's revenue.

The touchscreen game, in which players use a virtual slingshot to fling birds at structures populated by green pigs, has registered 400 million free and paid downloads since 2009, three-quarters of which were initiated in the last six months. Rovio is hiring in the United States and China to further develop its activities in retail and for movies.