Social networking giant Facebook, which recently went public, plans to continue its spending spree by acquiring Norwegian company Opera Software. Wall Street and Main Street investors are now watching Facebook more closely than ever, and the social network is making efforts to solve its mobile monetizing problems. In recent months, Facebook has acquired various companies in order to increase its presence in the smartphone sector.
Citing "one of its trusted sources," tech blog Pocket-lint reported on Friday, May 25, that Facebook's next target could be Opera Software, the company behind the Opera web browser. "According to our man in the know, the company could be about to expand into the browser space to take on the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla and now even Yahoo, who has recently launched its own browser," Pocket-lint reported.
Browser War
The Opera browser is available for several devices, including desktop computers, various phones and the Nintendo Wii. According to the report, Opera claims to have more than 200 million users. Google's Chrome is currently the world's top browser as of last week, followed by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari. Yahoo joined the browser party on Thursday, May 24, with its new Axis mobile browser.
"The move - which would no doubt send shivers of panic through Google - although unlikely to affect Chrome's continued growth in the short term, would see the two tech giants battle it out on your desktop and mobile for web surfing as well as social networking," added Pocket-lint.
Opera in Hiring Freeze, Looking for Potential Buyers
The Next Web bolstered the rumored claims with a report of its own, citing "one source close to Opera," who said the company has indeed been looking for potential buyers. The site's source said that Opera is not only talking to potential buyers, but has also instated a hiring freeze, which definitely indicates something major is in the works. The Next Web's source could not confirm whether Facebook was one of the potential buyers Opera was in talks with, but said "it would make sense." According to The Next Web, the information comes from "a very solid source."
Neither Facebook nor Opera commented on the rumored acquisition. "As a standard policy Opera does not respond to market rumors and we have no comment to the rumor addressed in the question," Opera said in a statement.
