Opera Software
 |
|
| Allmennaksjeselskap (: ) | |
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 22 June 1995 |
| Founders |
Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner Geir Ivarsøy |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
|
Key people
|
Sverre Munck (Chairman) Lars Boilesen (CEO) Håkon Wium Lie (CTO) |
| Products | Web browser |
| Revenue |  US$ 615.9 million (2015) |
 US$ 34.6 million (2015) |
|
|
US$ -51.2 million (2015) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
1671 (2015) |
| Parent | Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I L.P. |
| Website | operasoftware.com |
Opera Software ASA is now a Chinese owned software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers. Across multiple platforms, Opera browsers have more than 350 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is listed on . The company also has offices in Sweden, Poland, the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Iceland, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Opera's stated vision is "to deliver the best Internet experience on any device."
On 10 February 2016 a group of Chinese investors offered $1.2 billion USD ($8.31 per share) to buy the company, though the deal reportedly did not meet regulatory approval. On 18 July 2016 Opera announced it had sold its browser, privacy and performance apps, and its name to Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I Limited Partnership (a consortium of Chinese investors including Qihoo 360) was reported for an amount of $600 million USD. The transaction for sale of Opera's consumer business was approved on 31 October, 2016 by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. On 4 November, 2016, Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I L.P. completed the acquisition.
Opera Software was founded as an independent company in Norway on 30 August 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.
Opera Software's first product, the Opera web browser version 2.1 for Windows, was released in 1997. Opera Software had an IPO in February 2004, and was listed on the March 11, 2004.
In an attempt to capitalize on the emerging market for Internet-connected handheld devices, a project to port the Opera browser to more platforms was started in 1998. Opera 4.0, released in 2000, included a new cross-platform core that facilitated creation of editions of Opera for multiple operating systems and platforms.
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