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Otello Corporation
Developer of the Opera browser

Otello Corporation ASA (formerly Opera Software ASA) is a Norwegian internet company which develops advertising and mobile software for operators, publishers and advertisers. It operates through its subsidiaries which include AdColony (formerly Opera Mediaworks), a mobile advertising platform and network, Bemobi, a subscription-based mobile application and game discovery service, and Skyfire Labs, which provides mobile operators cloud based access for network management and video optimization, and advertising facilitation.

Opera Software ASA was founded as a holding company for Opera products and businesses. It changed its name to Otello Corporation after it sold off its web browser and consumer business along with the Opera brand (Opera Software AS) to a Chinese consortium of investors. While initially it planned to wholly sell itself off to the consortium the deal did not go through due to regulatory approvals, it settled by selling its consumer-facing web browser business instead.

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Acquisitions

On 11 March 2004, the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with the ticker OPERA.

On September 20, 2005, Opera announced that they would remove the ad from the browser and make it free.

On 20 January 2010, Opera Software5 announced that it had acquired AdMarvel, Inc.6

On 30 April 2010, Opera Software7 acquired Australian web email provider FastMail.8 In September 2013, the staff of FastMail bought the company back from Opera Software.9

On 19 September 2011, Opera Software10 announced that it had acquired mobile application platform Handster, the leading independent app store for Android apps at that time,11 in order to strengthen the Opera Mobile Store's offerings to consumers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers.12

On 15 February 2013, Opera Software13 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 content optimization technologies.14

On 4 June 2014, Opera Software15 announced that it is acquiring AdColony to bolster its mobile video ad capabilities. Opera paid $75 million in cash for AdColony, plus potential earn-out payments of up to $275 million.16

In March 2015, Opera Software17 acquired the Canadian VPN company, SurfEasy and later integrated the SurfEasy VPN into Opera as a free and unlimited service for its users.18 On September 22, 2015, Opera announced that they would remove "Software" from its logo.19

In December 2017, AdColony CEO, Will Kassoy stepped down from his position and was replaced by Otello CEO, Lars Boilesen.20

In 2021, Digital Turbine Inc. is acquiring AdColony from Otello for $400 million.21

Divestitures

On 20 December 2016, control of Opera TV AS was sold to Moore Frères & Company.2223 On 15 September 2017, Opera TV AS changed its name to Vewd Software AS,24 which would later be acquired by Xperi in 2022.

On 6 November 2017, Opera Software25 divested its SurfEasy subsidiary by selling it to Symantec for $38.5 million all in cash.26 85% of the payment was released on November 6, 2017 by Symantec with the remaining 15% remaining in escrow for up to 15 months. Specific earn-out targets were not publicly mentioned.27

Notes

References

  1. "Otello Corporation ASA: Private Company Information". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-04-21. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=532001 ↩

  2. "Otello Corporation ASA Company Profile". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2018-04-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20180422062720/https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile/OPERA.Sp ↩

  3. Hughes, Matthew (2017-12-18). "Opera Software ASA rebrands to Otello Corporation after selling its browser business (update)". The Next Web. Retrieved 2018-04-21. https://thenextweb.com/tech/2017/12/18/opera-software-rebrands-otello-corporation-selling-browser-business/ ↩

  4. "Opera Plunges as $1 Billion Buyout by Chinese Group Fails to Get Approval". Bloomberg.com. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2018-04-21. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-18/opera-scraps-sale-says-chinese-group-will-buy-browser-business ↩

  5. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  6. Wauters, Robin. "Opera Buys Mobile Ad Startup AdMarvel For $8M In Cash Plus A $15M Earnout". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-02-26. https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/20/opera-buys-admarvel/ ↩

  7. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  8. Opera acquires FastMail.fm Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, URL accessed on April 30, 2010 http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2010/04/30/ ↩

  9. Rob Mueller (25 September 2013). "Exciting news: FastMail staff purchase the business from Opera". FastMail. Retrieved 3 March 2015. http://blog.fastmail.com/2013/09/25/exciting-news-fastmail-staff-purchase-the-business-from-opera/ ↩

  10. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  11. Jennifer Van Grove (19 September 2011). "Opera Buys Top Mobile App Store Handster". Mashable. Retrieved 20 December 2012. http://mashable.com/2011/09/19/opera-acquires-handster/ ↩

  12. "Opera acquires Handster Inc". Opera Press Releases (Press release). Opera Software ASA. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012. http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2011/09/19/ ↩

  13. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  14. "Opera Eyes Speedier Mobile Web With Skyfire Acquisition". PC Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2013. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415500,00.asp ↩

  15. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  16. "Opera Buys Mobile Video Ad Firm AdColony". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 June 2014. https://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2014/06/24/opera-buys-mobile-video-ad-firm-adcolony/ ↩

  17. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  18. Kolondra, Krystian (20 April 2016). "Free VPN integrated in Opera for better online privacy". Opera Desktop Blog. Retrieved 18 October 2016. https://www.opera.com/blogs/desktop/2016/04/free-vpn-integrated-opera-for-windows-mac/ ↩

  19. "Meet the new Opera brand identity". Opera News. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2022-06-15. https://blogs.opera.com/news/2015/09/opera-new-logo-and-brand-identity/ ↩

  20. "Stock Quote News - Stock Market Quotes, Online Stock Quotes, India". IN. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180226152024/https://in.reuters.com/finance/stocks/OTELLO.OL/key-developments/article/3735479 ↩

  21. "Otello sells AdColony to Digital Turbine". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 5 March 2021. https://seekingalpha.com/pr/18209874-otello-announces-definitive-agreement-to-sell-adcolony-to-digital-turbine ↩

  22. "Global Leader in enabling OTT, Opera TV, acquired by Frères & Company" (PDF) (Press release). New York City: Moore Frères & Company. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017. http://www.moorefreres.com/content/uploads/2017/07/Press-Release-GLOBAL-LEADER-IN-ENABLING-OTT-OPERA-TV-ACQUIRED-BY-MOORE-FRÈRES-COMPANY.pdf ↩

  23. "Opera divests its connected TV business". Oslo Stock Exchange. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017. http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=416481 ↩

  24. "Opera TV is Now Vewd" (Press release). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170915005347/en/Opera-TV-Vewd ↩

  25. Now Otello Corporation. ↩

  26. "Symantec acquires VPN software vendor SurfEasy for $50 million". CRN Australia. Retrieved 2022-06-15. https://www.crn.com.au/news/symantec-acquires-vpn-software-vendor-surfeasy-for-50-million-477094 ↩

  27. "Opera divests SurfEasy business". Oslo Stock Exchange. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017. http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=438013 ↩