Opera Software ASA is breaking from its past.
The part of the Norwegian company Opera Software that remained after the it sold its web browser and other bits of the consumer business to a Chinese consortium in 2016, announced that its name changes to Otello Corporation ASA.
Otello owns companies that develop software for advertising, telecommunications, games, as well as online business, and the Opera rebrand does not affect Opera Software or any of its products.
The rebrand also plans to change the OPERA ticker on the Oslo Bourse.
Opera Software ASA CEO Lars Boilesen explained that the name change was a legal requirement. This is because In addition to the Opera desktop and mobile browsers, the Chinese consortium also purchased the rights to the Opera brand.
"The reason Opera Software ASA is changing its name is as part of the sale of the browser business to the Chinese consortium, the consortium also purchased the brand ‘Opera,'" he said. "As a result, Opera Software ASA agreed to change its name after a transition period."
The company announced the rebrand at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 18 December 2017.
Today, Opera Software ASA known for its Bemobi, Adcolony and Skyfire companies, announced its future name change to Otello Corporation. However, Opera Software AS popular for its Opera & Opera Mini browsers remains as #Opera & is a privately held company headquartered in Norway.
— Opera (@opera) December 18, 2017
Back in February 2016, a group of investors from China made an offer to buy the whole Opera for $1.2 billion but the deal did not get regulatory approval.
The deal was then changed. A Chinese consortium of investors, Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund, announced in July 2016 that it wanted to acquire the Opera Software consumer business for $600 million.
This deal was approved on October 2016, and ownership of all Opera consumer products, including Opera browser, Opera Mini, and also other apps, as well as the Opera brand name, were then owned by Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund.
With it able to distinguish itself from its browser business. Otello happens to be an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play "Othello".