Opera Software has received an acquisition offer for about US$1.2 billion from a Chinese consortium consisting of Internet companies Beijing Kunlun Tech and Qihoo 360 Software. Kunlun is focused on mobile gaming development and publishing, besides app distribution, while Qihoo is a provider of Internet and mobile security products.

The other prospective buyers include investment companies like Golden Brick Silk Road (Shenzhen) and Yonglian (Yinchuan).

A possible acquisition would help Opera make its products popular in a large user base in China. Both Qihoo and Kunlun could also provide their products and services to the Opera user base, and take advantage of Opera's mobile advertising platform.

The Oslo, Norway, company claims more than 350 million consumers worldwide. The company is offering accelerated delivery of Web content using compression, and its Opera Mini browser had 7.28 percent of the mobile phone and tablet market in January, compared to 41.57 percent for Chrome, 34.12 percent for Safari and 11.13 percent for the Android browser, according to Net Market Share.