Acer blocked Lenovo from acquiring Packard Bell by purchasing 75% of the company.
CNET reports Acer has been the fastest growing PC company in the world over the last year, rising through the ranks to become the No. 3 PC vendor at the end of 2007, with 8.9 percent of the overall market.
According to PC World, "The company purchased 500 common shares of PB Holdings, in addition to 30,000 Class B convertible preferred equity certificates (CPECs) and 7,000 class C CPECs."
Do you remember the rapid climb of Packard Bell Electronics to stardom? Packard Bell was founded in 1933, in Los Angeles, California. Had a reputation for making excellent radios. The company later entered the television market, until 1974. Beny Alagem and a group of partners acquired the Packard Bell name from Teledyne and formed Packard Bell Electronics. This company pioneered sales into the mass-market retail chains in the late 1980s and was the first to offer toll-free support to end users. In 1995, Packard Bell acquired Zenith Data Systems and, in 1996, merged with NEC's personal computer operations to become Packard Bell NEC. NEC reorganized its PC business worldwide in 2000, with Packard Bell closing its U.S. offices and focusing exclusively on Europe's consumer market.
Maybe you recall their PCs in the United States. Costco featured the computer systems and people assumed the product was good. Eventually the returns burdened the company. A company I owned in the early 90s serviced the broken systems. The company was good at paying for the billable hours as well as sending replacement parts.
