Lenovo, the world's No. 3 maker of personal computers, said on Tuesday that it still held out hopes of acquiring Packard Bell, even after Gateway announced its own intent to buy the firm last month.
While it is still in the process of integrating an ailing European arm inherited from IBM in 2005, Lenovo said last month that it was in exclusive talks to take over Packard Bell to spearhead a consumer expansion, allowing it to quickly grab market share.
But those plans were dealt a blow when Gateway, itself the target of a $710 million takeover by Taiwan's Acer, later said it would exercise a right of first refusal to buy Packard Bell.
"Packard Bell is a great fit, and we're still very interested," Lenovo Chief Executive Bill Amelio told reporters in Beijing. "It's not over until it's over."
Lenovo is not currently in talks with Packard Bell, Amelio said, but is still holding out in the hope that if a deal was not signed between Gateway and Packard Bell, Lenovo could still have an opportunity.
The company is in an intense battle for consumers with global leaders Dell and Hewlett-Packard, as well as
Amelio said Lenovo was still interested in further acquisitions to springboard its move into global markets.
He added, however, that the firm would be unlikely to take on any partners that would introduce instability to the company's operations, as it was still digesting its purchase of IBM's global PC business in 2005.
"We are still not through our entire acquisition process with the two companies," he said.
