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Chinese Tech Group Offers To Buy Opera; Board Endorses

Posted by timothy on from the who-owns-what-where dept.

jones_supa writes: There's been plenty of speculation around the future of web browser maker Opera, and now that looks like it will soon be resolved. Today the Norway-headquartered company confirmed that it has received a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from a group fronted by Chinese consumer tech companies Kunlun Tech and Qihoo 360. The deal is for 100% of the company, and it represents a 53% premium on the company's valuation based on its most recent trading price. Opera's board said in a statement (PDF) that it has "unanimously decided to recommend" its shareholders to accept the bid. The final deal is subject to government and shareholders' approvals.

15 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Noooooooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Please no. Please? Opera is one of the few innovators in the browser space that manages to pack features without getting bloated.

    1. Re: Noooooooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Opera hasnt been like that for 6-7 years. Its garbage now as a desktop app.

    2. Re:Noooooooooo by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, making a reskinned Chrome is super innovative.

    3. Re:Noooooooooo by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

      It's now based off of Chromium, same as Chrome. The similarities are much more than skin deep. The old Opera that we knew and loved has been dead for a LONG time.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. Beijing Opera! by XXongo · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, it will now be the Beijing Opera!

  3. Opera's over by maroberts · · Score: 2

    ..the fat lady has sung.

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

  4. $1.8 billion by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    $1.8 billion for a company that lost $51 million last year. Good investment.

  5. What will happen to Fastmail? by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Didn't Opera buy Fastmail a few years ago? As a long time Fastmail user, like so many other tech people, I'd worry about my email provider being controlled by the Chinese.

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    1. Re:What will happen to Fastmail? by guppysap13 · · Score: 2
      IIRC, Fastmail bought themselves out of Opera in ~2013. They should have emailed you about it if you had an account at the time. This shouldn't impact them at all.

      http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/2013/09/26/australian-based-email-provider-fastmail-became-a-privately-held-independent-company-29920932/

  6. China blues by iserlohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    China is due for a massive correction in the economy. Debt driven growth has reached saturation and from now on, we will see a lot of deleveraging and money being printed (ie. QE) to prevent deflation.

    Acquisitions is one of the best ways to swap depreciating Yuan assets (to use as collateral) and turn them into foreign assets. As the likelihood that CNY will devalue increases, you will see more and more of these desperate deals.

    --
    :. Ultimate Control Dedicated/VM Servers
    1. Re:China blues by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not just China that is due for a "massive correction in the economy." Look at how many first-world countries have negative interest rates, because printing money just meant more money stuck in "financial investments" rather than productive ventures.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  7. The crowd is chanting ... by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · · Score: 3, Informative

    revive the Presto engine!

    Seriously, I would hate the world where everything revolves around WebKit though I've got a sneaking suspicion we already live in it.

  8. Re:Repeat after me: Vivaldi, Vivaldi, VIVALDI! by malditaenvidia · · Score: 2

    Except they're actually doing what Opera promised when they switched to Webkit/Blink and are implementing all the features of Opera 12 into their browser. Even typing /. in the address field will take you to slashdot, like in the old days. I'm worried about the footprint, though. Opera always excelled at using little resources and providing tons of features. Kind of makes you wish they used a different browser engine for vivaldi.

  9. Re:Nope, getting uninstalled by Kobun · · Score: 2

    That's pretty much my point. Call me paranoid but having an installed base of software, WITH AUTOUPDATE, makes it trivial to sneak spyware out to a wide array of computers quickly.

  10. Opera Mini by williamyf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Opera Mini intercepts all web traffic in order to reshape/recompress

    It acts like a sort of "Man n the middle" for web traffic.

    Put on your tinfoil hats boys and girls, this will be a wonderful ride.

    PS: Also, think of all the Symbian(S60)/ASHA(S40)/NokiaX phones whose browser and store is handled by Opera now, by way of Microsoft...

    http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/flow/item/20265_Nokia_Store_to_be_replaced_by_.php

    --
    *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!