Chinese consortium buys Opera browser for $600M

OSLO, Norway –A Chinese consortium has bought the Opera internet browser for $600 million (543 million euros), its Norwegian developer said Monday, July 18, after a public share offer for the company failed.

The consortium led by Golden Brick Silk Road will purchase the mobile and desktop versions of the internet browser, plus performance and privacy apps and a stake in a Chinese joint venture, but not the television, media and games units, said Opera Software in a statement to the Oslo stock exchange.

The transaction was announced simultaneously with the failure of the $1.2 billion public offer to take over the entire company.

It gave no reason for the failure, but in a statement to the Oslo stock exchange last week Opera Software said the outcome of the offer was uncertain as it hadn’t yet received regulatory approvals by the deadline of July 15.

Golden Brick Silk Road fund is a Chinese consortium which includes Beijing Kunlun Tech which is specialised in mobile games and cybersecurity specialist Qihoo 360.

Opera’s management had backed the proposed takeover as it would give the browsers access to the extensive internet user bases of Kunlun and Qihoo in China.

Opera says its light, quick browser is used by more than 350 million consumers worldwide.

Last month it ranked fourth for mobile devices behind Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Android Browser, according to data by NetMarketShare, and sixth on desktop computers. – Rappler.com