Chinese consortium to buy browser provider Opera for $1.2b

Opera said in a statement that it had agreed to a cash offer of NOK71.00 per share, which represents a 53% premium to the February 4 closing price, the day before market speculation began about a potential acquisition. Shareholders representing 33% of Opera have undertaken to accept the offer.

The purchasing entity is Golden Brick Silk Road (Shenzhen) Equity Investment Fund II, which is managed by Golden Brick Silk Road Investment. LPs in the fund include Qihoo, domestically listed mobile internet company Beijing Kunlun Technology, as well as an entity tied to Golden Brick itself.

Golden Brick Silk Road is an affiliate of Hong Kong-headquartered private equity firm Golden Brick Capital. The firm focuses on investments in technology, media and telecom, energy and natural resources, and has about $3 billion in assets under management. Golden Brick Silk Road - through Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I - is also participating in the Qihoo privatization.

The statement added that the deal would give Opera access to Qihoo and Kunlun's user base in China as well as their financial and strategic support. At the same time, Kunlun and Qihoo would be able to cross-sell their products and services to the Opera user base.

"There is strong strategic and industrial logic to the acquisition of Opera by the consortium. We believe that the consortium, with its breadth of expertise and strong market position in emerging markets, will be a strong owner of Opera. The consortium's ownership will strengthen Opera's position to serve our users and partners with even greater innovation, and to accelerate our plans of expansion and growth," said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera.

Opera is the fourth-largest browser provider globally, after Google's Chrome, Alibaba Group-controlled UCWeb, and Apple's Safari. Its products are used by more than 350 million internet users. Revenue came to $480.8 million in 2014, up from $300.1 million the previous year, while adjusted EBITDA rose from $86.6 million to $118 million. It posted a net loss of $58.1 million in 2014 compared to profit of $60.3 million in 2013.

Qihoo is China's leading player in the PC internet security and mobile internet security space, with 479 million monthly active users and 744 million smart phone users in 2014. It was also the number one PC browser provider and Android mobile app store operator. The company was said to have bid against Alibaba for UCWeb in 2014.

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