Acer acquisition steals Lenovo’s bronze


27 Aug 2007

Taiwan-based computer company Acer looks set to move up a notch to take the No. 3 position among the world’s largest PC vendors after today’s decision to buy US company Gateway.

The acquisition of Gateway will give Acer the No. 3 PC vendor spot worldwide behind HP and Dell, knocking Lenovo into No. 4 after it had managed to get to third with its acquisition of IBM in 2005.

Under today’s agreement Acer has offered to purchase all outstanding Gateway shares in cash at a value of US$1.90 per share, to give a total consideration of roughly US$710m.

This may be a hefty sum but together the two companies’ combined revenue comes to US$15bn per year while PC shipments run to over 20 million units a year.

Although the acquisition has been agreed on by the board of directors of both PC companies, it won’t be until December of this year when the deal is set to close.

The chairman of Acer, JT Wang said that the Gateway acquisition represented an important milestone for the company, and added that the strong brand would complete their global footprint.

“This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s already strong positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally,” he said.

Gateway, whose direct sales model like that of Dell was highly successful in the mid to late nineties has been struggling to keep on top throughout the noughties, with current share prices of US$1.90 in comparison to the US$4 high at its nineties peak.

By Marie Boran