Taiwanese computer vendor Acer Inc will go ahead with the purchase of Paris-based PC maker Packard Bell through US group Gateway, which it recently bid for, Acer's president said yesterday in Madrid.
"Packard Bell will reinforce our position in Europe where we are already well positioned," Acer president Gianfranco Lanci told a news conference in Madrid.
Lanci said Acer had already signed an agreement with the owner of Packard Bell, John Hui (
The amount on the table for Packard Bell "is relatively small" compared to the US$710 million that Acer offered for Gateway at the beginning of the month, he said.
Acer's bid for Gateway is expected to be completed next month, he said.
The integration of Packard Bell and Gateway will create a firm with a yearly turnover of US$20 billion and annual sales of nearly 25 million computers.
The new firm will post 48 percent of its sales in Europe, 34 percent in North America and the remaining 18 percent in Asia.
The acquisition of Packard Bell will boost Acer's position in the market for office computers, one of its weak spots, Lanci said.
Acer will integrate the two new firms "very, very quickly" and plans to pursue a multi-brand strategy to respond to an increasingly segmented market, Lanci said.
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