Opera Software could be takeover target for Qihoo - Dagens Naeringsliv, Finansavisen
Opera Software, the listed Norwegian software company, is rumoured to be a takeover target for Chinese mobile and online security solutions provider, Qihoo, according to Dagens Naeringsliv.
The Norwegian business daily reported that Opera saw its share rise by 6% within half an hour on Friday morning. A Norwegian newswire report wrote in conjunction to the share price increase that the Norwegian broker Arctic Securities had informed its clients that Opera has attracted the takeover interest of Qihoo, after which trading of the Opera share was halted just minutes later. The paper reported that Opera was contacted by the Oslo stock exchange but the trading halt was still in place awaiting an announcement from the company when the exchange closed on Friday afternoon.
The paper reported that Opera announced in August that it had seen takeover interest from several companies.
The item cited Opera's Founder and ex-shareholder, Jon von Tetzchner, who said he knew nothing about a possible sale of the company but he commented that he was surprised a sale has taken as long as it has. He added that Opera has been up for sale ever since he left the company.
The paper also cited an Opera spokesperson who declined to comment on von Tetzchener's comments or what it is going on with Opera.
The original article appeared in print, Page 4.
Meanwhile, Finansavisen cited another Opera spokesperson who said that various rumours have been circulating throughout the autumn and no announcements will be made until there is something definite to announce.
A Danske Bank analyst told the business daily that he believes it is 75% likely that Opera's Consumer and licencing division will be sold. He pointed out that Qihoo could be interested due to the fact that 50m of Opera's 350m users are in India, 20m are in Russia and 10m are in China. He also speculated that Qihoo may be interested in integrating its search engine in Opera's browser.
Dagens Naeringsliv, Finansavisen