Acer completed its $710 million takeover of Gateway on Oct. 17, making it officially the third largest PC maker in the world and in a position to exert pricing pressure on the desktop and notebook markets.
The acquisition by Taiwans Acer, announced in August, cleared several hurdles, including U.S. regulatory approval and the acquiescence of Gateway shareholders, some of whom had threatened a suit to block the deal or lift the sale price.
Shareholders gave their final approval Oct. 16 and Gateway stock disappeared from the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the days trading.
Acer is done acquiring competitors for now, but sees PC consolidation accelerating. Click here to read more.
The merger establishes Acer as the third largest PC maker behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard, ahead of former No. 3, Beijing-based Lenovo, and sets the stage for increased pricing pressure on HP and Dell as Acer and Lenovo bring cheaper products to market. Enterprise customers could expect slimmer desktop and notebook budgets as a result.
Acer also has a pending arrangement to purchase Paris-based Packard Bell, blocking Lenovos expected attempt to do the same.
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