Norwegian web-browser maker Opera Software is on the verge of being bought for $1.2bn by a consortium of Chinese investors and software companies.

Opera’s board of directors has recommended that the acquisition offer be accepted by its shareholders, having been searching for a buyer since August 2015.

Mobile games and apps firm Kunlun and internet-security company Qihoo have teamed up with investment firms Golden Brick and Yonglian for the deal.

The software companies are hoping to promote their products to Opera’s browser users, as well as using its mobile advertising network.

Mobile research firm App Annie estimated in January that Qihoo’s 360 Mobile Security app was the fifth most-downloaded app in the world in 2015 across Android and iOS – ahead of apps such as Skype, YouTube and Snapchat.

At the end of 2015, Opera had 281 million users of its mobile browsers, as well as another 59 million using its desktop application.

The company has four different mobile browsers available: Opera Mini, Opera Browser, Opera Max and Opera Coast, as well as its desktop and TV versions.

It has also just launched an initiative called Opera Apps Club, which the company is billing as a “Netflix-style subscription service for premium Android apps”, to be offered through mobile operators.

In the final quarter of 2015, the company’s revenues were $193.5m from a mixture of mobile ads and technology licensing to connected-TV partners such as Humax and LG.

“We believe that the consortium, with its breadth of expertise and strong market position in emerging markets, will be a strong owner of Opera,” said chief executive Lars Boilesen.

For the acquisition to go through, more than 90% of Opera’s shareholders will have to accept the offer. Large shareholders accounting for 33% of its shares have already agreed to accept it.

“Facebook and Google have their ecosystems and now we have one too, in a part of the world that is growing incredibly fast and where we will become very strong,” Boilesen told Reuters. “We want to be an ecosystem with a billion users.”