Authorities give permission to take over part of Opera – update

The Norwegian Opera browser is finally in Chinese hands. Supervisory authorities have approved the acquisition of the browser, but other parts of the Norwegian company are excluded from the deal, as authorities did not agree to it.

As a result, the consortium of Chinese companies takes control of Opera’s desktop browser and apps, but the advertising branch, among other things, is not part of the acquisition and will remain with the Norwegian parent company, Reuters news agency writes. It is unknown whether the Chinese companies will also take over the proxy servers for the Opera Turbo service. It is also unknown why authorities did not give the green light for the acquisition of all of Opera.

Because only part of the company is now transferring to the Chinese companies, the consortium led by investor Golden Brick will pay approximately 540 million euros, instead of more than one billion euros. The offer for Opera came in February from investor Golden Brick, owner of Qihoo 360, among others.

The browser builder has not been idle since the bid. It came with a vpn app for iOS and built a proxy function into the desktop version of its product under the name ‘Browser VPN’.

Update, 10:04: A statement from Opera shows which parts do and do not belong to the takeover. The browser, privacy apps and a share in a Chinese joint venture are coming along, Opera TV, apps and games such as Bemobi, which was purchased last year and the American branch Opera Mediaworks, which compiles reports, among other things, are lagging behind.