Facebook eyes Norwegian browser maker Opera Software: report

Less than two weeks after raising $16 billion through an initial public offering, social networking giant Facebook is planning to buy Norwegian browser maker Opera Software, according to a report.

Citing an unnamed trusted source, UK-based technology website Pocket-lint on Saturday reported that the Menlo Park, California-based company is looking to buy Opera Software, which claims to have around 270 million users across all of its platforms.

Giving credibility to the report, The Next Web, citing a solid source, reported that Opera Software is talking to potential buyers and that there's currently a hiring freeze at the company.

Facebook, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has promised investors of transforming the social networking site's mobile and advertising experiences by building its own browser on a mobile operating system based on Android software and even its own social smartphone, and an acquisition would save time from building a new one from scratch.

Oslo Stock Exchange-listed Opera Software's browser has about 270 million people using its Opera browser every month, and more than 168 million using it in March 2012, with a total of 117 billion pages served.

It holds a mere 1.76 per cent market share, making it last in the desktop browser market. But the Oslo-based company is one of the leading mobile browser providers with a market share of 21.52 per cent, which is why Facebook is showing a keen interest in the company.