Opera Buys Skyfire for (up to) $155M

Skyfire management team

Opera Software announced it has ".. acquired Skyfire Labs ... Skyfire currently counts three large U.S. mobile operators [here] as customers for its Rocket Optimizer and Skyfire Horizon solutions, and is in trials with ten other operators around the world .. the two companies envision a powerful new set of joint products to be released over the coming year by combining their talents and know-how. In particular, they look to expand on Opera’s Web Pass offering, which allows consumers to purchase innovative data plans such as an unlimited ‘day pass’ of popular apps and web sites for an affordable price, thanks to video and data optimization. WebPass can enable new business models for operators, such as toll free data, ad-supported data, and more"

More on Skyfire's technology - here and here. See also "A Message From Skyfire CEO, Jeff Glueck" - here.

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

See "Opera acquires Skyfire, broadens its mobile operator solutions beyond the browser" - here.