The purchase of Opera would give Facebook a way to quickly create a dedicated browser customized for the social networking giant and its estimated 900 million active monthly users.

It would also put Facebook in the middle of a browser battle with Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla (Firefox), Google (Chrome) and Apple (Safari). Some of those companies -- like Microsoft -- have partnered with Facebook, while others -- such as Google -- compete in the social networking space.

U.K.-based technology website Pocket-lint that Facebook "is looking to buy Opera Software," citing an unnamed source it described only as "trusted." Other sites, including The Next Web, claimed that while their sources could not verify Facebook's interest, they did say Opera's management has been .

Both Opera and Facebook declined to comment on Pocket-lint's report.

Opera is really the only top-five browser that Facebook, or anyone for that matter, could conceivably acquire.