Acer Buys, Will Preserve Gateway, eMachines Brands [View All]

[OhioChick]

Source: PC Magazine

08.27.07

In a bid to expand its U.S. presence, Taiwan-based PC maker Acer on Monday announced plans to acquire Gateway for $710 million.

Gateway's strong U.S. presence … will complete our global footprint," Gianfranco Lanci, president of Acer, said during a conference call with reporters early Monday morning.

The deal is expected to produce $150 million in savings by 2008 related to supply and customer service integration, Lanci said. Gateway is the fourth largest PC seller in the U.S. behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo, while Acer is the third largest PC company in the world.

Also on Monday, Gateway said that it will exercise its right to acquire Paris-based PB Holdings S.ar.l, a parent company of Packard Bell BV, from Lap Shun (John) Hui. Under a 2006 non-compete agreement with Hui, Gateway was given first dibs on the Packard Bell unit should Hui decide to sell it. Hui notified Gateway that a third party had made an offer for the company, so Gateway decided to exercise its right of first refusal and snap up PB Holdings itself.

Read more: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2176056,00.asp