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[GG-Duo]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7022858

BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - China's largest personal computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) , said on Wednesday it is buying control of IBM's PC-making business for $1.25 billion, capping the U.S. tech giant's gradual withdrawal from the business it helped pioneer in 1981.

The agreement, which forms the world's third largest PC business, calls for Lenovo to pay IBM $650 million in cash, $600 million in Lenovo Group common stock and for Lenovo to assume $500 million in net balance sheet liabilities from IBM.

IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will hold an 18.9 percent stake in Lenovo.

Lenovo ThinkPad?


EDIT:
Read about the announcement ----> http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/announcement.html

 

[Pochacco]

Say it ain't so....
It almost sounds like Lenovo will continue to do what IBM has been doing. They've hired the product designers and everything. So maybe (hopefully) we'll continue seeing great IBM ThinkPads!
I mean, if Lenovo moves down market, companies would stop buying ThinkPads wouldn't they?

Will be interesting to watch.

 

[Jason]

This have any effect on you two?

 

[GG-Duo]

Nope

 

[impirius]

Say it ain't so....
It almost sounds like Lenovo will continue to do what IBM has been doing. They've hired the product designers and everything. So maybe (hopefully) we'll continue seeing great IBM ThinkPads!

Like the awesome Hitachi Deskstars!

....




But yeah, we can hope for the best.

 

[XMonkey]

Terrible news. I know one should hope for the best, but the ThinkPad is classic IBM and I wouldn't want any other company to touch them. My family has owned 4 ThinkPads over the years and all of them have been great, hopefully this won't be the downfall of the ThinkPad.

 

[Pochacco]

From the sounds of it, it looks like a win-win-win situation.
-IBM unloads their PC market, maintains some control, and gets a foot in China.
-Jay Lenova becomes the 3rd largest PC maker in the world and gets access to the enterprise PC market.
-Consumers will continue to get IBM products/IBM service.

Of course, this is what I gathered from IBM's PR announcement...so who knows. But it sounds like the ThinkPad will live on!

 

[marko]

the real question is, how is IBM stock doing going to do after this merger/purchase. Hopefully up. That is what matters right?

 

[Phoenix]

the real question is, how is IBM stock doing going to do after this merger/purchase. Hopefully up. That is what matters right?

IBM's stock is so nutty expensive ($98-99 bucks last time I checked) at this point that any change is only going to be 1-3% in either direction