Angry Birds Flying Towards IPO?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- For all the similarities Rovio has to Walt Disney (DIS), there's one major thing that separates the two: an IPO. Rovio, however, is working hard to change that, according to a media report.

Rovio Entertainment, the maker of the popular Angry Birds games, said revenue rose tenfold to $100 million in 2011, and is now considering an IPO, as business continues to strengthen. "2012 looks fantastic," Chief Executive Mikael Hed told Reuters. "We have had some very strong download numbers over four months."

Angry Birds could be coming to a stock market near you

Reuters, citing Rovio's fiscal 2011 numbers, noted that the Finnish company now has more than 800 million downloads of its games, and 200 million monthly users as of the end of 2011. Publicly traded Zynga (ZNGA) has 240 million monthly users.

Rovio has been expanding its business, building Angry Birds into a brand, similar to what Disney did with Mickey Mouse in its early days. From games to action figures to clothes to dolls, Rovio has branded Angry Birds and people are flocking (pun intended) to the games in droves. Angry Birds Space is the fastest growing mobile game ever, recently surpassing 50 million downloads.

Rovio, founded in 2003, took off when it launched Angry Birds for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone in 2009, and has grown into a global phenomenon. The company recently expanded beyond the iPhone platform, adding Facebook to its list of platforms for its games.

--Check out 10 stocks to 'like' off Facebook's IPO.

Rovio said earlier this year that it may list in Hong Kong, but Reuters reported New York may be a possibility as well.

The Helsinki-based firm has not yet responded to TheStreet's request for comment on this story.

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--Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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