While spokespersons for both IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Lenovo won’t comment about a possible Lenovo acquisition of IBM’s x86 server unit, Lenovo does issue a statement in Hong Kong that it is in preliminary talks about an acquisition. But the world’s No. 1 PC maker doesn’t identify the other party.

Lenovo shares are traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and Reuters news service reported from the Asian financial hub the Lenovo statement.

The company, which operates its global executive headquarters in Morrisville, acknowledged “it was in preliminary talks about an acquisition,” Reuters said.

“It declined to name the seller but said it was making the statement in response to reports about its potential acquisition of a server business.”

No definitive agreement has been reached and no “material terms” have been agreed to, Reuters added.

Rumors of a deal gave Lenovo shares a boost, driving them up nearly 4 percent to $10.57 in Hong Kong dollars. Reuters reported last week that Lenovo shares were trading at a 13-year high, predating its acquisition of IBM’s Raleigh-based PC business in 2005.

Contacted by WRALTechWire, an IBM spokesperson replied:

“IBM does not comment on rumors or speculation.”

Lenovo’s Milanka Muecke, director of North American PR and Communications, made a similar response. 

“Lenovo has no comment on marketplace rumors and speculation,” said Muecke, who is based in Morrisville.

Alliance@IBM, the union seeking to represent Big Blue workers, also offered little insight into a possible deal.

“Haven’t heard anything from the inside,” said Lee Conrad, National Coordinator for Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701.

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” he added. “They have been trying to sell this part of the business for some time.”

Lenovo has completed due diligence, Bloomberg news reported Monday. The companies failed to agree last year on a price for the assets, estimated to be worth $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion. Lenovo said it’s in preliminary talks on a possible acquisition without identifying the target or seller. The stock rose.

IBM is getting rid of businesses with lower profit margins and focusing on software and services to reverse slumping sales. Lenovo, which began its rise to leadership of the global personal-computer market by acquiring IBM’s unit in 2005, is looking to counter falling industry shipments by expanding into storage equipment and the servers that run corporate networks.

“This transaction would make sense for both parties,” said Alberto Moel, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in Hong Kong. “The logic was there and that hasn’t changed.”

Lenovo is only in talks to acquire the x86 server hardware business and not services, and a deal could be signed within a week, the person said. The person didn’t have details on the current price or structure of the proposed deal.

 

A sale would continue IBM’s campaign to exit hardware businesses. Since selling the PC division, it has divested units such as printers and retail-store systems. IBM’s businesses also include storage computers and semiconductors.

In October, IBM reported sales fell for the sixth straight quarter on slowing demand for hardware. The company lost $713 million in its hardware business in the first nine months of last year, compared with $253 million in profit in the year- earlier period. That may have added pressure for IBM to sell the server unit, said Stephen Yang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sun Hung Kai Financial.

“Last quarter IBM server sales were very weak,” Yang said. “IBM may be looking to cut losses before the erosion gets worse.”

The purchase of IBM’s PC business in 2005 vaulted Lenovo from the No. 8 maker at the time to third. After the acquisition, Lenovo also bought control of Germany’s Medion AG and NEC Corp.’s PC division in Japan.

Those purchases helped Lenovo overtake Hewlett-Packard Co. for the top spot in PC shipments in the second quarter of last year. Lenovo kept that spot with 18.1 percent market share in the fourth quarter, helped by a 6.6 percent increase in shipments, researcher Gartner Inc. reported this month.

Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing has said he’s now looking for acquisitions to expand beyond that core PC business. Yang wants to double Lenovo’s share of the server market within three years to complement the company’s development into the No. 2 smartphone vendor in China behind Samsung Electronics Co.

“Lenovo has been trying to break into servers for a while as a new growth engine,” Moel said. “It could be good for Lenovo based on the right price.”

Talks with IBM for Lenovo to buy parts of the server division broke down after the two sides couldn’t agree on a price, a person familiar with the discussions said May 3. Lenovo wanted to pay toward the low end of the $2.5 billion-to-$4.5 billion range that was being discussed for the assets, while IBM had sought a higher valuation, Bloomberg reported at the time.

The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 19 that Dell Inc. was looking at IBM’s low-end server business.

(Bloomberg news contributed to this report.)