Clock ticking on $1.2 billion Chinese bid for Norway's Opera

OSLO (Reuters) - A $1.24 billion takeover bid for online browser and advertising company Opera Software by a Chinese consortium was thrown into doubt on Tuesday when the Norwegian company said the deal had yet to receive regulatory approval ahead of a July 15 deadline.

The offer from a group of internet companies including search and security business Qihoo 360 Technology Co and Beijing Kunlun Tech Co, a distributor of online and mobile games, had received approval from Opera shareholders in May and was awaiting approval from Chinese and U.S. authorities.

A condition set out in the offer document has not yet been satisfied, Opera said on Tuesday without specifying whether approval from China, the United States, or both, is lacking. No detail was given on the nature of the apparent stumbling block.

The news sent Opera's shares to an eight-week low. At 1345 GMT the shares were down 10.4 percent, lagging a 0.45 percent decline for the Oslo benchmark index.

The Chinese consortium was uncertain whether it would get the approval before the offer's final deadline.

"(The consortium) has been discussing with Opera in order to explore alternative options available and will update the market in due course," Opera said without elaborating.

In Washington, a spokesman for the Treasury Department, which handles press inquiries for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese consortium is working on different alternatives and there is still time to resolve issues before July 15, Opera's head of investor relations, Petter Lade, told Reuters.

"The statement does not provide nuances as to whether this is serious or trivial," said DNB Markets analyst Christer Roth. "This creates uncertainty and insecurity as to the final outcome."

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by David Goodman)