Otello Corporation ASA (formerly Opera Software ASA) is a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
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
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...
based access for network management and video optimization, and advertising facilitation.
Opera Software ASA was founded as a holding company for
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
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.
Acquisitions
On 11 March 2004, the company was listed on the
Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...
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 Software announced that it had acquired AdMarvel, Inc.
On 30 April 2010, Opera Software acquired Australian web email provider
FastMail. In September 2013, the staff of FastMail bought the company back from Opera Software.
On 19 September 2011, Opera Software announced that it had acquired mobile application platform
Handster, the leading independent app store for Android apps at that time, in order to strengthen the
Opera Mobile Store
Opera Mobile Store was a platform-independent browser-based app store for mobile-phone owners and a digital application distribution platform used by more than 40,000 developers around the world,
owned and maintained by Opera. Launched and po ...
's offerings to consumers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers.
On 15 February 2013, Opera Software 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.
On 4 June 2014, Opera Software 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 Earnout or earn-out refers to a pricing structure in mergers and acquisitions where the sellers must "earn" part of the purchase price based on the performance of the business following the acquisition.
Description
Earnouts are often employed when ...
payments of up to $275 million.
In March 2015, Opera Software acquired the Canadian
VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...
company,
SurfEasy and later integrated the SurfEasy VPN into Opera as a free and unlimited service for its users. On September 22, 2015, Opera announced that they would remove "Software" from its logo.
In December 2017, AdColony CEO, Will Kassoy stepped down from his position and was replaced by Otello CEO, Lars Boilesen.
In 2021, Digital Turbine Inc. is acquiring AdColony from Otello for $400 million.
Divestitures
On 20 December 2016, control of Opera TV AS was sold to Moore Frères & Company. On 15 September 2017, Opera TV AS changed its name to Vewd Software AS.
On 6 November 2017, Opera Software divested its
SurfEasy subsidiary by selling it to
Symantec for $38.5 million all in cash. 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.
Notes
References
External links
*
Otello Corp. at Hoovers{{Finance links
, name = Otello Corporation ASA
, symbol = OTELLO
, yahoo = OTELLO.OL
, bloomberg = OTELLO:NO
Software companies established in 1995
1995 establishments in Norway
Companies based in Oslo
Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Opera Software
Software companies of Norway