Rovio considers moving base to Dublin

Rovio, the Finnish company behind the successful Angry Birds mobile phone game is considering moving its headquarters to Ireland, according to its chief executive Mikael Hed.

He said that if the company moved it base to Ireland it would be natural to base some of its production in the country also. Rovio employs about 400 people, mostly in Finland, but recently has been in contact with Ireland's Industrial Development Agency (IDA) about establishing headquarters in the Emerald Isle. Its headquarters is in Espoo, west of the Finnish capital Helsinki.

The Angry Birds game has been downloaded by more than a billion users and has become one of the world's most popular apps in recent years. Rovio is currently developing an entertainment business around the brand, branching into animation, merchandising and books.

A key attraction for foreign firms relocating to Ireland is the country’s low corporation tax rate of 12.5 per cent. A bone of contention for other EU member states, in particular Germany, the low tax rate has been a major factor in most of the world’s fast-growing technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, setting up European headquarters in the Irish capital.

The corporation tax in Finland is 24.5 per cent.