QIHU Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. American Depositary Shares, Every 2 of Which Representing Three Class A Ordinary Shares

By Rick Carew in Hong Kong and Kjetil Malkenes Hovland in Oslo 

A consortium of Chinese companies has bid $1.2 billion in cash to buy Opera Software ASA, a Norwegian maker of Internet browsers, the latest sign of how a weakening currency has left China's acquisition appetite unperturbed.

The Chinese bidders, including security software firm Qihoo 360 Technology Co. and gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., on Wednesday offered to purchase Opera shares at 71 Norwegian kroner apiece ($8.33), a 46% premium compared with their last trading level.

Trading in Opera shares was suspended Friday amid takeover rumors. When trading resumed Wednesday, the stock immediately shot up more than 40%, later trading 37% higher at 67.00 kroner.

The board of Opera said it supported the bid, adding that shareholders holding a combined 33% interest in the company intended to tender their shares.

Opera--whose browsers are far less known than rival products made by Alphabet Inc. or Microsoft Corp.--could gain the financial muscle it has lacked to place its software in more electronic devices, analysts said. The company said it expected revenues of $690 million to $740 million this year, compared with $616 million in 2015.

The proposed deal is the latest in a wave of outbound acquisitions by Chinese companies this year amid China's slowing economy and falling currency. Chinese firms have made more than $60 billion of takeover offers in 2016, including China National Chemical Corp., known as ChemChina, which recently agreed to pay $43 billion to buy Swiss pesticide maker Syngenta AG.

The bid comes as Qihoo 360 is in the process of delisting from New York after agreeing to a buyout by a consortium including its chairman for $9 billion in December.

Best known for its mobile and PC antivirus software, Qihoo 360 operates China's second-place search engine behind Baidu Inc. along with a secure Web browser. The company has struggled to compete with China's technology giants in shifting its business from desktop to mobile. In the second quarter of 2015, the most recent quarter for which data is available, mobile accounted for 24% of the company's total revenue, compared with about half for Baidu.

For its part, Kunlun bought a 60% stake in gay dating app Grindr for $93 million in January.

Members of the Chinese consortium also include private-equity firm Golden Brick Silk Road Fund Management (Shenzhen) LLP, and Yonglian (Yinchuan) Investment Co.

Mobile-browser company UCWeb, a unit of U.S.-listed Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., falls second to Alphabet's Chrome with 20% of the world-wide mobile browser market, according to Internet analytics firm StatCounter. Opera comes in fourth behind Apple Inc.'s Safari at roughly 10.8% of the mobile browser market. Including other platforms, such as tablet, desktop and console browsing, Opera comes in sixth, with a market share of about 5.7%.

Opera Software was set up in 1994 as a research project within Norway's biggest telecom provider, Telenor ASA.

"It is naturally sad for Norway to lose yet another outstanding technology company," said Havard Nilsson, an analyst with financial firm Carnegie ASA. "However, the company does not hold any specific national interest."

Morgan Stanley advised Opera Software and Citigroup Inc. advised the Chinese consortium.

Josh Chin in Beijing contributed to this article.

Write to Rick Carew at rick.carew@wsj.com and Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2016 09:59 ET (14:59 GMT)

Grafico Azioni Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE:QIHU)
Storico
Da Dic 2024 a Gen 2025

Grafico Azioni Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE:QIHU)
Storico
Da Gen 2024 a Gen 2025