Wang deals Acer to No.3 with Gateway buy
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Since taking the helm at Taiwan's top PC  maker two years ago, J.T. Wang has trumped his opponents by  building Acer Inc  into the world's No.3 computer  maker.
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TAIPEI/SHANGHAI  - Taiwan's Acer Inc will buy Gateway Inc for $710 million to double its U.S. presence and unseat China's Lenovo as the world's No. 3 PC maker, while dealing a blow to its efforts to grow in Europe.
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Acer, the world's third largest PC vendor, is taking aim at Japan this year as a key place to grow its booming business, the company chairman said.
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By Bloomberg, AP and Staff Reports  Gateway Inc., the third-largest personal computer company in the United States, said Friday that it rejected an unsolicited $450 million bid for its retail business from eMachines Inc. founder Lap Shun Hui.
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Gateway CEO Ed Coleman will resign from his position at the end of January, clearing the way for Acer&#39;s top executive in the Americas to take the helm, the Taiwanese company said Friday.Acer completed its US$170 million acquisition of Gateway in October. Coleman, who served as CEO of Gateway since 2006, oversaw the start of efforts to integrate the U.S. company with its new owner. However, the completion of those efforts will be the responsibility of Rudi Schmidleithner, head of Acer&#39;s Pan-America Organization, who will take charge of Gateway at the end of January.Acer announced Coleman&#39;s departure in a brief statement that thanked him for his contributions during the transition period that followed the acquisition announcement in August. The statement said Coleman made the decision to leave the company, but did not offer a specific reason.Gateway now&#160;operates as a subsidiary of Acer and maintains its own PC brand, which is well known in the U.S.
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Acer becomes the world's third largest PC vendor; purchase of Packard Bell is still pending.
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A Chinese company has become the third largest PC seller in the world by buying IBM&#39;s personal computer business. Lenovo has bought the business for USD 1.25 billion, of which USD650m is in cash and the rest in Lenovo shares.
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Acer is showing strength in the global PC industry, becoming the world's third largest PC maker in the first quarter of 2007, according to data from research firm iSuppli.
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(InfoWorld) - Acer Inc.'s agreement to acquire Gateway Inc. has foiled Lenovo Group Ltd.'s plans to buy PC vendor Packard Bell BV, and could leave Acer owning both Gateway and Packard Bell. On August 7, Lenovo revealed it was in discussions with Packard Bell over a possible acquisition. At the time,Â it looked like Lenovo had beaten Acer, which was also interested in acquiring the company. However,Â Acer's plan to buy Gateway for $710 million, announced Monday, trumps anything Lenovo brings to the table in its negotiations with Packard Bell. In 2006, Gateway signed an agreement with John Hui, Packard Bell's largest shareholder, that gives Gateway the right of first refusal if he decides to sells PB Holding Co. SARL, the parent company of Packard Bell. What that means is that if Packard Bell wants to enter into a final agreement to be purchased, the company has to ask Gateway first, said Y.T. Du, of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., which represented Acer in the negotiations. Gateway can refuse the deal if it wants and enter into purchase talks with Packard Bell, he said. That is exactly what Gateway has done, announcing plans to exercise its right of first refusal at the same time the Acer deal was unveiled. The agreement between Hui and Gateway is rooted inÂ Gateway's 2004 acquisition of eMachines, a PC vendor that Hui founded. When Hui acquired his stake in PB Holding Co., he granted the right of first refusal to Gateway in exchange for the company waving parts of the noncompete agreement that Hui signed when eMachines was sold. Now that Gateway has entered into talks to acquire PB Holding from Hui, Acer could end up owning both Gateway and Packard Bell. While a Packard Bell acquisition would increase Acer's market share in Europe, a deal also means Acer will face having to integrate two companies with its existing operations instead of only one. "Acer is still really strong in Europe," said Bryan Ma, director of personal systems research at IDC Asia-Pacific. Ma worried that Acer's desire to acquire Packard Bell is driven more by a desire to slow Lenovo's growth in Europe, rather than a pressing need to strengthen its own position there. A Lenovo spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment. Â  With additional reporting by Dan Nystedt in Taipei. Â
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Shares in Lenovo , the world's third largest PC maker, slid more than 2 percent after news that U.S. rival Gateway  will try to block the Chinese firm's effort to buy European-focused Packard Bell.
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Taiwanese PC vendor Acer has purchased 75 percent of the parent company of European electronics maker Packard Bell for &#8364;31 million ($45.8 million), Acer said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Thursday.The deal effectively seals&#160;Acer&#39;s bid to keep Chinese rival Lenovo from acquiring Packard Bell&#160;and gaining a foothold in Europe, where Acer enjoys strong sales.Acer made the purchase with the help of&#160;Gateway, another company it acquired recently. The U.S. company held the right to counter any offer for Packard Bell if it entered into talks with a third party, which Packard Bell did by speaking with Lenovo. In October,&#160;Gateway made a binding offer to buy shares&#160;from the largest shareholder in PB Holdings Co., Packard Bell&#39;s parent company.That deal went through Wednesday, the Acer statement said. The company purchased 500 common shares of PB Holdings, in addition to 30,000 Class B convertible preferred equity certificates (CPECs) and 7,000 class C CPECs.Stock market analysts have argued that buying Packard Bell is a waste of time for Acer because the company is already strong in Europe. But industry researchers, and Forrester in particular, argue the move staved off a Lenovo ploy that might have hurt Acer in there.Acer bought Gateway last year for $710 million.&#160;
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Computer manufacturer sells new line through major retail centers in bid to return to profitability. SAN FRANCISCO  - PC manufacturer Gateway Inc.
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Computer maker Acer of Taiwan announced yesterday that it would acquire Gateway, the third-biggest U.S. personal-computer company, for about $710 million in cash.
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Taiwan-based Acer Inc, the world&#039;s fourth largest branded personal computer vendor, has said it is set to more than triple its sales in China this year through its own retail network.
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Acer has passed Lenovo as the world's third largest PC vendor with its purchase of Gateway, and now it's gunning for U.S. giant Dell.
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IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 12  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gateway, Inc., the nation's third-largest PC company, has signed a $2.2 million contract to provide Kansas City Kansas Unified School District with more than 1,000 of its award-winning Profile all-in-one desktop PCs.
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(InfoWorld) - Lenovo Group reclaimed the number three spot among PC vendors during the second quarter, pushing rival Acer back into fourth place. But Acer's exceptionally fast growth means the company isÂ likely to overtake LenovoÂ as number three for the entire year, if current trends continue. Acer has been on a roll in recent quarters, grabbing market share and putting pressure on Lenovo. During the first quarter of 2007, Acer tied Lenovo for third place, with both companies reporting shipments of nearly 4 million PCs, giving each company 6.7 percent of the market, according to IDC. Acer, which has made taking the number three spot from Lenovo aÂ principal goal for the year, was able to match Lenovo during the first quarter because of seasonal buying trends in China. Lenovo depends heavily on China, where it has long dominated PC sales. The company's first-quarter sales were slowed by the Chinese New Year holiday, a time when PC sales dive in China. Lenovo saw its first-quarter shipments increase 17.4 percent over the previous year, while Acer's shipments rose 41.4 percent, IDC said. Acer's first quarter sales weren't hit during by Chinese New Year because the company remains a relatively minor player in China, despite having roots in Taiwan, which shares a common language and culture. Acer's presence is much stronger in Taiwan, which also celebrates Chinese New Year. But Taiwan's relatively small population means the holiday had a minor impact on Acer's overall sales during that period. During the second quarter, Lenovo was able to reclaim the number three spot, with a 22.3 percent increase in unit shipments, to almost 4.9 million units, IDC said.Â Acer fell to the number four spot, but showed strong growth during the period. The company's shipments rose 55.4 percent over the same period last year, to almost 4.3 million units -- just 600,000 units fewer than Lenovo. That relatively narrow gap puts Acer within striking distance of Lenovo, assuming current growth trends continue through the rest of the year. Acer did well around the world during the second quarter, with the company posting unit shipment growth of 30 percent or more in every region. The company did particularly well in the Americas, IDC said. "New retail and dealer partner agreements are quickly expanding the company's access to the market, contributing to volume gains," it said. Â