Acer, GE team up in US$14 million Internet venture

Acer Group's digital services wing and General Electric Co's e-commerce arm, the world's largest e-commerce company, sealed a US$14 million deal yesterday to create an e-commerce venture aimed at servicing Asia's top businesses.

The joint venture company will be 85 percent owned by Acer Digital Services Group (宏基數位服務團體) with the remaining 15 percent of shares held by GE Information Services Inc (GEIS, 奇異資訊服務), company chairman and Acer Digital president George Huang (黃少華) told reporters yesterday.

"The joint venture plans to become the biggest supplier of business-to-business e-commerce software and solutions in Asia within the next three years ... with the eventual aim of expanding its product areas to become the region's biggest web firm," he said.

"The joint venture with GE International gives us the means to become the biggest Internet company in Asia," Huang said.

He added: "With our well established access and connections in the region, the venture will help promote e-commerce business in Asia."

Ignatius Wei (魏逸之), vice president of GEIS, said the joint venture was aimed at taking a large market share of the promising future of Asian e-commerce market.

"Although Asia entered the e-business market at a later stage, the region's export oriented economy pattern will be a niche for developing e-businesses. The prospect for the future in e-business is promising," he said.

GE Information Services is the world's largest e-commerce firm, ahead of IBM, which is Acer's biggest computer manufacturing customer.

The joint venture will utilize GEIS' e-commerce infrastructure to provide e-commerce services, sell GEIS software and develop new products.

Among the e-commerce services to be provided are virtual market sites -- providing buyer-seller matching services -- and supply chain networks, as well as electronic data interchange (EDI) services.

GEIS had sales of US$700 last year and has invested US$30 million in Asian e-commerce over the past two years, a company executive said recently.

Huang, who headed negotiations for Acer's strategic alliance with IBM and its acquisition of the Siemens Group's personal computer wing, has made the deal with GEIS the first feather in his cap after arriving at Acer Digital.

Huang said GEIS' share of the joint venture was expected to rise in the future, although exact plans on expansion of the partnership have yet to be made.

Acer plans to invest US$200 million over the next two years in Internet infrastructure and service development.

Acer Group total revenues last year amounted to US$6.7 billion while GE's global earnings totalled US$100 billion.