Acer Inc. expects to acquire a small company in the coming months to expand its PC business but has ruled out Gateway Inc. as a possibility.
Reports last month that Acer was interested in buying a rival sparked rumors that the target might be Gateway, sending its shares to a 52-week high of US$2.44 on March 19, an 18 percent leap from the start of the month.
Acer declined to name the company but Acer’s chairman, J.T. Wang, said at an investor conference in Taipei Friday that it is “not in the United States,” ruling out Gateway.
Talks are under way with the target company and Acer expects to conclude a deal in three to five months, Wang said. “It’s a small case so we will not spend so much money,” he added.
Wang revealed in March that Acer was looking for acquisition targets as part of its bid to overtake Lenovo Group Ltd. as the world’s third-biggest PC vendor. But Acer won that crown from Lenovo in the first quarter in any case, according to Gartner Inc. Acer ended the quarter with 6.8 percent of the market, compared with Lenovo’s 6.3 percent, the market researcher said.
