Gateway agrees £352m takeover

Personal computer firm Gateway today agreed to be taken over in a deal worth £352m (€520m) with Taiwan's Acer.

The proposed acquisition will create a computer company with more than $15bn (€11bn) in revenues and shipments in excess of 20 million units a year.

In the second quarter of this year, Acer was the world's fourth-largest PC maker behind US-based Hewlett-Packard, second-placed Dell, and third-ranked Lenovo of China.

Acer is offering to buy Gateway for US$1.90 a share in a deal expected to be completed by December, pending regulatory approvals in Taiwan and the US. The offer price is at a premium of 57% to Gateway's Friday closing share price.

California-based Gateway is the third-largest PC vendor in the United States by market share after Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

Ed Coleman, chief executive of Gateway, said: "Joining with Acer will enable us to bring even more value to the consumer segments we serve and capitalise on Acer's highly regarded supply chain operations and global reach."

JT Wang, Acer's chairman, described the deal as an important milestone in the company's history: "This will be an excellent addition to Acer's already strong positions in Europe and Asia."

The merger will result in savings in procurement and component costs, and also create an opportunity for the cross-selling of product portfolios.

Founded in 1985 in a Midwestern farmhouse, Gateway's brands are now sold through retailers in North America, Japan and the UK, as well as an expanding list of markets in Western Europe.