Lenovo wraps up IBM PC purchase

Lenovo has completed its purchase of IBM's PC and laptop manufacturing division, and has appointed a new board to run the company.

The deal saw IBM sell its loss-making PC division to China's largest PC manufacturer for $1.25bn, split between $650m in cash and $600m in Lenovo Group shares. The Chinese manufacturer also agreed to absorb $500m in debt from IBM.

Lenovo accepted a $350m injection from three American investment firms on 31 March 2005 which it used for the IBM acquisition.

Following a board reorganisation the newly appointed chief executive of Lenovo is Stephen Ward, previously a senior vice president at IBM and general manager of its Personal Systems Group.

Ward said that he expects new products from the combined venture "within weeks".

Under the terms of the deal, Lenovo is allowed to use the IBM brand for its PCs and laptops for the next five years. The company confirmed that it will continue the 'Thinkpad' and 'ThinkCenter' brands of notebooks and desktops.

Lenovo expects sales and servicing of existing IBM products to continue as normal.

Completion of the sale had been held up by US security concerns that sensitive information could be bought by the Chinese company. However, the US Committee on Foreign Investments cleared the deal last month.

The transaction makes Lenovo the number three PC maker in the world, behind Dell and HP, with a combined $13bn in sales and 14 million shipped units.