This archive report was first published on 21 August 2020.
On August 21, 2020, Opera Limited, a web software company and online news service, announced a partnership with fintech Mobimagic to form a new service called Nanobank.
The partnership aims to tap into the emerging market by combining Opera's microlending service and Mobimagic's software platform, creating a European Fintech that will drive its revenue for the next year.
At launch, the partnership between Opera and Mobimagic had a combined user base of approximately 50 million people, with plans to expand to new markets like Mexico as the service scales.
By July, Nanobank had already disbursed $44 million, with expectations of higher volumes in August following the official announcement of its formation.
"We are now taking the next steps to further boost this business — making it even larger, consolidating profitability between two highly successful companies, and realizing benefits of scale to support attractive cash generation," said Opera CEO and Chairman Yahui Zhou in a news release.
Opera CEO believes that the new company will expand into new markets and products, offering services beyond microlending, which will provide strategic flexibility and benefit shareholders.
However, investors were not pleased with the news of the ownership arrangement, with shares of the company falling by 23.6% on Thursday after it was announced that Opera would give up majority ownership of Microlending, its fastest-growing business.
