Opera Software may be sold

Opera Software, the Norwegian company behind the Opera browser, among other things, may go up for sale. The reason for this is probably the lower than expected turnover in the second quarter, combined with a “strategic interest in the company” from several parties.

It is not known exactly which parties are interested in a possible takeover. The company’s board of directors said in a brief statement that Opera would “evaluate and consider strategic alternatives” in response to outside interest. For this, the company has engaged the banks ABG Sundal Collier and Morgan Stanley. That investigation should be completed sometime in the second half of this year, and Opera will make statements about its next move.

At the same time as Opera’s statement, the company released its second-quarter figures. The Norwegians expect to have achieved a turnover of 133 million euros, which is within the projections that were between 132 to 141 million. The profit is expected to amount to 26 million euros, while projections there were at 26 to 31 million euros. Opera adjusts its profit forecast for 2015 from 118-128 million to 98-108 million euros.

Last Saturday, the Norwegian company announced that it has acquired Bemobi, a Netflix-like provider of mobile games in South America. The service has about six million users and is therefore a major player in that market. Opera hopes to be able to get this audience to the Opera browser by conquering that position.