We posted yesterday about the acquisition rumours circling Opera. It appears there was some substance to them, as the company has today confirmed that it is the subject of a bid from Chinese internet companies Kunlun and Qihoo 360 that values the firm at $1.2bn (£826m) or 71 Norwegian Krone per share – a 56 per cent premium over the price the shares were trading at prior to the offer. The Opera board is recommending that shareholders accept the offer.

In a statement, Opera CEO Lars Boilesen said: “There is strong strategic and industrial logic to the acquisition of Opera by the Consortium. We believe that the Consortium, with its breadth of expertise and strong market position in emerging markets, will be a strong owner of Opera. The Consortium’s ownership will strengthen Opera’s position to serve our users and partners with even greater innovation, and to accelerate our plans of expansion and growth.”

Opera started out as a browser firm specialising in compressing data for faster page-load times, but in recent years it has expanded into the mobile advertising business following the acquisition of a number of firms, including 4th Screen Advertising and Mobile Theory.