Acer ends up with Packard Bell

ACER-OWNED Gateway has announced that it has delivered a " binding offer" to acquire all of the shares of PB Holding Company and Clifford Holdings Limited, owners of 75 per cent of Paris-based PC firm Packard Bell.

The parties involved are now talking to the Works Councils in France and the Netherlands and attempting to secure antitrust and other regulatory approvals required for the signing and closing of the transaction, according to Gateway's statement.

Acer Inc. said it has agreed to fund Gateway’s acquisition of PB Holding and Packard Bell in connection with the planned merger between Acer and Gateway announced on Aug. 27, 2007.

The announcement looks like ending months of speculation about who will end up with Packard Bell.

Acer may have been counting its chickens before they hatched, but the acquisition has been a done deal for the Taiwanese company for weeks now. Gateway had been in the process of acquiring Packard Bell when Acer stepped in to buy up Gateway.

However Chinese hardware maker Lenovo wanted to take over Packard Bell and made a very public campaign to do so.

The acquisition is part of a defensive move against Lenovo by Acer. Acer wants to take the title of the world's largest number three computer maker from Lenovo and reckons the joint acquisition gives it the right to claim that dubious accolade.

The last thing that Acer wanted was to give Lenovo a strong foothold into Europe. µ