Rovio denies plans to move headquarters to Ireland

Newsbrief: Angry Birds developer Rovio may move its headquarters from Finland to Ireland, as it looks to take advantage of Ireland's low tax rates. The studio has been based in Finland since it was founded in 2003 -- however, chief executive Mikael Hed told the Irish Times that he has been discussing moving the company headquarters to Ireland with industrial development agency IDA Ireland. "The Irish authorities have been very active and we have been promoting that. We are considering it," he said. "It is something that we need to look at. For now we have stayed in Finland. But it is on top of our minds. If we did make that decision then it would be a natural thing to do to have some production [in Ireland] also." Finland's corporation tax rate is 24.5 percent, while Ireland's is nearly half that at 12.5 percent. The news comes as Ireland looks to double the size of the video games industry in the country. [Update: Rovio’s communications lead Sara Antila has now said that Hed's comments were hypothetical, and that Rovio is not planning to move to Ireland.]