Acer Inc. on Wednesday announced the completion of its acquisition of Gateway Inc., making it officially the third largest PC vendor in the world.
In August, the Taiwanese company revealed a plan to buy U.S. PC vendor Gateway for around US$710 million through a tender offer for the company’s shares. Since then, Acer has purchased enough shares to close the deal and has won approval from several major government agencies, including the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), a spokesperson for the company said Wednesday.
Gateway’s stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange as of its close on Tuesday, Acer said.
The Acer-Gateway deal, and a pending arrangement for Gateway to buy European PC vendor Packard Bell BV, will put the Taiwanese company in a position to challenge Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. for U.S. market share, while blocking rival Lenovo Group Ltd. from gaining ground in Europe through its planned purchase of Packard Bell, analysts say.
Gateway will continue to operate under its own name as a subsidiary of Acer, and the company expects to expand its product offerings.