Opera Buys Skyfire Labs for $155m

Opera has acquired US mobile video optimisation and cloud solutions company Skyfire Labs for up to $155 million.

Skyfire’s Rocket Optimizer software allows operators to optimise nearly any video and other multimedia on crowded base stations supporting 3G, LTE and other technologies.

According to the company, the solution offers a 60 percent capacity boost, on average, by reducing the size of the content to fit the available bandwidth. The approach aligns with the trend toward SDN (software-defined networking) and NFV (network function virtualisation) among operators.

The company also sells the Skyfire Horizon mobile browser extension and toolbar platform for users to personalise their handsdet’s browser and operators to gain monetisation opportunities.

Skyfire’s consumer apps have been downloaded 20 million times to date.

The company counts three major US operators as customers.

Lars Boilsen, Opera CEO said the new division positions the company well in a market where video is expected to consume two-thirds of global mobile bandwidth by 2015.

The acquisition price includes a mix of cash and stock, with an upfront consideration of $50 million (including USD 8 million of cash on the Skyfire balance sheet) and performance based earn-out payments over three years, including $26 million in cash held in escrow and funded upfront, that can bring the total deal size to $155 million.

The transaction is expected to close before March 15.