Rovio plans brand licensing unit restructure amid tough consumer products competition

Rovio Entertainment Corporation has detailed its plans to restructure its brand licensing unit. The aim is to improve the profitability of this side of the business.

Negotiations started this week on October, 14th. The restructuring plan concerns 32 employees of the brand licensing unit globally. The planned measures could lead to a maximum redundancy of 20 roles globally.

The background for the planned restructuring is the highly competitive character licensing business landscape, particularly for licensed consumer products. Rovio has previously communicated that this has lowered revenue expectations from the brand licensing unit.

Going forward, the brand licensing activities will focus more on the most important licensees and retailers, key product categories and top territories.

“Rovio has a unique asset, the Angry Birds brand that enjoys a very high global awareness. However, the competition in the licensing business, especially for consumer products, has intensified. Thus, we aim to do things more efficiently, adjust our way of working and rearrange our brand licensing operations accordingly. The planned changes will not affect our games business,” said CEO Kati Levoranta.