Opera Software

Opera Software a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera desktop web browser and Opera Mini mobile web browser. Across multiple platforms, Opera browsers have more than 350 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through its participation in the W3C. The company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company also has offices in Sweden, Poland, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Iceland, Singapore, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China. Opera's vision is to "deliver the best Internet experience on any device".

On February 10, 2016, a group of Chinese investors offered US$1.2 billion ($8.31 per share) to buy the company, though the deal reportedly failed to meet regulatory approval. On July 18, 2016, Opera announced that it had sold its browser, privacy, and performance apps and name to Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I Limited Partnership (a consortium of Chinese investors, including Qihoo 360) reported for an amount of 600 million USD. The transaction for the sale of Opera's consumer business was approved on October 31, 2016 by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. On November 4, 2016, Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I L.P. completed the acquisition.

History

Opera Software was founded as an independent company in Norway on August 30, 1995 by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy. The company was created to continue what was originally a research project at Telenor, the largest Norwegian telecommunications company. The full name of the company is "Opera Software ASA". ASA stands for Allmennaksjeselskap, which is Norwegian for corporation).

Up to this point, the Opera browser was trial software and had to be purchased after the trial period ended, however, this ended with version 5.0, released in 2000. Instead, Opera became became an advertising sponsor, showing ads to unlicensed users, which was commonly criticized as a barrier to gaining market share. In the most recent versions, the user could choose between generic image banners or targeted text-based ads provided by Google based on the page being viewed.

In an attempt to capitalize on the emerging market for Internet-connected handheld devices, a project was started in 1998 to port the Opera browser to more platforms. Opera 4.0, released in 2000, included a new cross-platform kernel that made it easy to create editions of Opera for multiple operating systems and platforms.

Opera Software made an initial stock offering in February 2004, and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on March 11, 2004.

On January 12, 2005, Opera Software announced that it would offer free licenses to institutions of higher education - a change from the previous cost of $1,000 USD for unlimited licenses. Schools that opted for the free license included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, the University of Oxford, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Duke University.

The August 2005 introduction of Opera Mini, a Java ME-based web browser for mobile phones aimed not at end-users but at telephone operators is likely to set a new direction in direct revenue, making make the company less dependent on ad-supported free software.

With version 8.5 (released on September 20, 2005), Opera announced that it would remove advertising panels from its browser, which would now be completely free. Although the browser was previously free to download and use, it displayed advertising unless the user paid for a license. This move was made in the hope that it would encourage more users to switch to this browser.

In 2012, Opera Software and Bharti Airtel signed an agreement to provide Opera Mini browsers to Airtel's mobile customers.

In 2013, Opera Software decided to stop using its Presto rendering engine for the desktop version. As of version 15, the browser would be using the Blink rendering engine, a fork of Webkit developed together with Google.

At the March 2015 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Opera won the Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Product, Initiative or Service in Emerging Markets for Opera Web Pass and Sponsored Web Pass.

In April, Opera Software decided to focus development of the Opera Desktop browser on Poland. On April 12, Opera TV AS was established as part of 2015 separating the business related to Opera Software ASA TV from Opera TV and all other assets of Opera Software ASA, both of which became subsidiaries of Opera Software ASA.

On December 20, 2016, Opera TV AS has been sold to Moore Frères & Company.

In January 2017, the company launched Opera Neon, a new browser concept that aims to explore alternative browser design. The browser is built on top of the Blink engine and is available for Windows and macOS.

Acquisitions

On January 20, 2010, Opera Software announced that it had acquired AdMarvel, Inc.

On April 30, 2010, Opera Software acquired Australian email provider FastMail. In September 2013, FastMail staff bought the company back from Opera Software.

On September 19, 2011, Opera Software announced that it had acquired the mobile application platform Handster, the independent application store for Android, in order to strengthen Opera Mobile Store offerings to consumers, mobile operators, and manufacturers. of mobile phones.

On February 15, 2013, Opera Software announced that it had acquired Skyfire for $155 million. Opera primarily targeted the company for its video optimization technologies, such as its Rocket Optimizer platform, which would complement its own technologies content optimization.

On June 4, 2014, Opera Software announced that it would acquire AdColony to bolster its mobile video advertising capabilities. Opera paid $75 million in cash for AdColony, plus potential earnings payments of up to $275 million.

In March 2015, Opera Software acquired Canadian VPN company SurfEasy and later integrated SurfEasy VPN into Opera as a free and unlimited service for its users.

Legal issues

On May 18, 2004, Opera Software filed a lawsuit:

Opera Software ASA has initiated legal actions against an international corporation, resulting in the payment to Opera of 12.75 million dollars net USA. The other party is not a client of Opera and the agreement will not affect future benefits. The amount will be scored in the second quarter.

The details of the agreement are confidential.

It is widely assumed that the international corporation referred to in the note is Microsoft, which was reported to be preventing Opera users from properly displaying MSN.com.

In 2007, Opera filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission, alleging that tying Internet Explorer with Microsoft Windows is detrimental to both the consumer and other web browsing companies. The complaint led to the creation of BrowserChoice.eu.