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A Morrisville firm makes a deal – but it’s Tekelec, not Lenovo

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MORRISVILLE, N.C. — A Triangle-based company disclosed a major acquisition Wednesday morning, but it wasn’t Lenovo opening the  checkbook.

Instead of Lenovo buying Positivo Informatica in Brazil for as much as $800 million, telephone gear-maker Tekelec said it was buying a privately held Dutch firm for around $40 million.

Lenovo, meanwhile, reportedly has “decided not to pursue” Positivo “for now,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Just a few days ago, rumors were rampant that Lenovo would buy Brazil’s top PC-maker in a bid to drive more business in emerging markets. That’s where market share is to be won, according to Lenovo Chief Executive Officer William Amelio.

Perhaps the Positivo price was too high. Perhaps rival Dell, which also is rumored to want Positivo, won a bidding war.

"The opportunity had been there," a source told the Journal. "But Lenovo has decided not to go ahead with it for now."

Last week, Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing ruled a deal for Brazil-based Positivo neither in nor out.

"The directors confirm that the company has certain preliminary discussions with independent third parties regarding potential investment opportunities and acquisitions," the company said in a statement signed by Yang.

As we noted last week, Lenovo has been foiled in recent acquisition attempts, such as a potential buy of Europe-based Packard Bell. Acer bought Packard Bell after scooping up U.S.-based Gateway and vaulted past Lenovo into the world’s No. 3 PC spot behind Dell and No. 1 HP.

Dow Jones Newswires reported recently as well that Lenovo had approached Fujitsu about possibly acquiring the joint venture PC business of Fujitsu and Siemens. Fuijitsu’s chief financial officer was cited as the source of that report.

So will Lenovo make a deal or not? Right now, it seems everyone outside Lenovo’s top management can only guess.

The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…