Lenovo Investigates Packard Bell Acquisition

Written by Adam Gosling

Wednesday, 08 August 2007

Lenovo has announced it is in discussion with an "independent third party" into the possible acquisition of Packard Bell. While the company has entered into aMoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to look at the purchase it hasn't decided whether it is willing to proceed. "The Company is currently continuing negotiation with the independent third party and undertaking certain necessary enquiries with third parties and/or government bodies in preparation for the entering into of definitive agreements for such proposed acquisition," said the Lenovo statement. "The transaction, if materialized, may constitute a discloseable transaction of the Company under the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing rules.," says the statement. According to press reports the "third party" is actually John Hui, the current owner. Packard Bell is a privately-owned company. While Packard Bell is reportedly Europe's third-largest computer brand it has failed to gain traction in other markets and has been owned by a series of big brands who have passed it along to its present owner, John Hui. Hui, who sold his company eMachines to Gateway in 2004 for US$266 million took over ownership of the Packard Bell from NEC last year. "Lenovo and I have indeed signed a MOU granting them exclusivity to purchase Packard Bell once all regulatories and contract obligations are fulfilled," John Hui was reported confirming the deal was being discussed. Hui attributed Lenovo's interest in the company as a platform to access the European consumer PC market. The large Beijing-based computer manufacturer catapulted itself into the top three PC rankings worldwide three years ago when it bought IBM's PC division for US$1.8 billion. Lenovo has some competition for the company though Taiwan-based PC tiger is also reportedly trying to buy Packard Bell. However Hui has denied any formal deal with Acer. Never a strong market for IBMs PC division, Lenovo, the number one PC maker in China, has so far failed to make serious inroads into the consumer PC market outside its home country. Worldwide unit shipment research ranks Lenovo at number three fighting off Acer at number four. Both trail behind HP and Dell. Yesterday we reported that Lenovo plans to make laptops preinstalled with Novell's SuSE Linux available to appease demand from its enterprise customers. Related news items HP Plans More iPaqs As PDAs Become Smartphones -12/08/2007 Consumer Electronics Takes Interest In 802.11n -12/08/2007 Nokia Adds PlayReady -06/08/2007 Greedy iPhones Gobble The Flash -18/07/2007 Nokia Takes A Skype Tablet -11/07/2007 Newer news items Ericsson To Build Vodafone HSPA -06/03/2008 Kyocera To Acquire Sanyo's Phone Business -22/01/2008 Yahoo! GungHo! On Mobility! -07/01/2008 45 nm Comes To Centrino -07/01/2008 Acer Elbows Into Third Place -27/08/2007 Older news items Motorola Nudged Out Of Second Place -04/08/2007 Intel Moves To Ease OLPC Conscience -16/07/2007 Changing Fortunes For Smartphone Makers -03/07/2007 Motorola Conquers Everest -23/05/2007 New Motorola Phones Announced -15/05/2007 Tag This Now: