, the world’s No. 4 PC-maker, has made an $833 million bid for Positivo, the No. 1 PC manufacturer in Brazil, a Brazilian newspaper reported Friday.
Rumors that Lenovo and Dell, the No. 2 PC-maker in the world, are bidding to acquire have been circulating for days.
Lenovo on Thursday in China issued a statement in which it acknowledged the pursuit of possible acquisitions but didn’t comment directly about Positivo. Most Lenovo operations are based in China, where the statement was issued, but Lenovo’s global headquarters is in Morrisville.
If the $833 million price is correct, that is far below a reported earlier target of $2 billion for the company.
The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported the $833 million bid.
In London, The Financial Times quoted an analyst in Rio de Janerio as saying reasons Positivo might be sold include plunging market share and earnings. Alan Cardoso said that in the third quarter, Positivo’s share of the Brazilian PC market fell to 23.3 percent from30.7 percent a year earlier and that cash flow shrank to 12.5 percent from 16.3 percent.
On Thursday, 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.
An analyst told The Financial Times that a deal for Positivo seemed to make sense for Lenovo.
“Lenovo has said an acquisition target should be in a segment they are not strong in and in a market that they don’t have yet, and Positivo Informatica meets these criteria,” said Jenny Lai, a PC analyst for Greater China, told the newspaper.
A Brazilian newspaper reported that Lenovo officials visited Brazil on Dec. 6 to discuss a possible deal.
Lenovo Chief Executive Officer William Amelio has said that the company plans to focus growth efforts in emerging markets.
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 earlier this week 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.
Fujitsu recently disclosed plans to acquire Siemens’ share of the joint venture.
On Tuesday, Amelio said at a press conference that consolidation will happen “soon” in the global PC industry. However, he declined comment on the Positivo rumors.
“With equity values down significantly, there will be consolidations in this industry,” Amelio said in Shanghai, according to the news service Bloomberg.
Amelio also said Lenovo might have to make further job cuts as the global economy slows.
"All ideas are on the table," he said when asked about possible layoffs and restructuring, according to Reuters.
Lenovo recently cut 50 jobs at its Morrisville headquarters.
The PC maker reported a sharp drop in earnings for the third quarter, and Amelio said the economy is getting worse, especially in China where the company was born and is the market leader.
"In the course of the last several quarters, we saw first India slow down as a nation, then PC shipments as well, and Russia. Now China has slowed down significantly, and that has a big impact on our growth rate overall," Amelio said.
Lenovo, which recently launched a server business line, will expand its product lines and also focus on what Amelio called “emerging markets” for future growth, according to Channel News Asia.
"I see us having a bigger participation in the emerging markets and the growth that is in emerging markets,” Amelio said.
"I think you’ll see us migrate not just from PC client, but to workstations and servers across the spectrum of all countries, but really having a dominant focus on the emerging markets."
