Opera Software is a Norway-based company you have probably heard of. This is the company behind the quite popular Opera browser which is available on various platforms, including mobile ones, such as Android. This company has also released the Opera Max app which has gained serious popularity ever since it was introduced. That being said, Opera Software has actually received a rather sizeable buyout offer recently, let’s see what’s that all about, shall we.
This company has received a buyout offer from a consortium of Chinese companies, a $1.2 billion, to be exact. This consortium consists of the mobile game developer, Kunlun, and a mobile security company, Qihoo. The consortium is also backed by Golden Brick and Yonglian investment funds. “There is strong strategic and industrial logic to the acquisition of Opera by the Consortium,” Opera CEO Lars Boilesen said in a statement. “The Consortium’s ownership will strengthen Opera’s position to serve our users and partners with even greater innovation and to accelerate our plans for expansion and growth,” says Opera’s CEO, Lars Boilesen. Opera’s board is actually recommending shareholders to approve this takeover. This deal would definitely make Opera more popular in China, the platform will have a proper availability in China. On the other hand, the consortium would get access to Opera’s mobile advertising platform.
We’ll see what happens in the end, but if shareholders approve this, Opera could soon, for better or for worse, end up in the hands of this Chinese consortium. Now, the company is expected to release their earnings today, and along with that, we expect to see more info about this takeover. Though it is possible that the company will wait with any official info for a longer period of time, of course. All in all, this is a rather interesting, and quite unexpected turn of events. Opera is most popular for their Opera and Opera Mini browsers, but the aforementioned Opera Max has gained quite a bit of popularity as well, but the consortium is probably after Opera to gain access to the mobile advertising platform, but we’ll see what happens if Opera accepts the buyout offer, stay tuned.