14 DAY TRIAL // Opera Software is one of the oldest browser manufacturers in the world, but, despite its best efforts and continually improving software, Opera on the desktop hasn’t managed to pick up any Steam. Opera, the company, on the other hand, is doing pretty well, thanks in large part to its mobile browser. So well in fact that it’s made its second acquisition of the year, buying Australian email provider FastMail.FM.
“Some exciting changes will be occurring with FastMail.FM. FastMail.FM has been acquired by Opera Software, the developers of the Opera web browser,” FastMail.FM’s Rob Mueller announced on the official blog.
“This is great news for FastMail.FM users. FastMail.FM will continue to run and grow as the reliable email service you’ve known for over 10 years. We’ll be combining forces with Opera’s technical teams, expertise and products to develop new and innovative products,” he added.
FastMail.FM users will be able to continue to employ the service as before or can cancel their accounts if they don’t want Opera to handle their data. The FastMail.FM team will start working with Opera and some employees will move to Norway as part of the acquisition. This is true the other way around, Opera will send some representatives to Australia.
It’s unclear what Opera plans to do with the email service, though it seems that it will continue to operate as it is, at least for the time being. It’s also unclear if the company plans to integrate the service in one of its products. The financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
It looks like Opera is trying to diversify its portfolio and start offering services along with its software. Earlier this year, Opera acquired mobile advertising company AdMarvel for $8 million. That may prove a smart move for the future, as there’s little money to be made as a browser maker, even on the mobile front, where it has been particularly successful. UPDATE: Opera has issued a statement.