Opera shares tumble as chairman/CEO to shed direct stake

Opera

28/09/2023 16:28

** U.S.-listed shares of Opera  OPRA.O  tumble 13.0% to
$12.80 on Thurs, and on course for biggest daily pct drop in
about a month, after internet browser developer launches
secondary offering
    ** Oslo, Norway-based co late Weds announced sale of ~6.9
mln ADSs (each ADS = 2 ordinary shares)
    ** Citigroup and Goldman Sachs lead bookrunners for
offering, slated to price Thurs after markets close
    ** Opera chairman/CEO James Yahui Zhou to sell entire 7.7%
direct stake, per the SEC filing
    ** However, Zhou to retain indirect control of Opera via his
majority stake in co's 72% shareholder, Chinese internet firm
Kunlun Tech  300418.SZ 
    ** Even with drop on Thurs, OPRA shares up roughly 130% YTD
    ** Shares hit intraday record high of $28.58 in Jul, getting
a boost after co in Feb announced collaboration with popular
chatbot firm OpenAI

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))