Lenovo in talks to buy European computer firm Packard Bell

Lenovo Group, the world's third-largest personal computer maker, aims to expand swiftly into the international consumer market via Europe if it secures the purchase of PC supplier Packard Bell of the Netherlands.

Lenovo and John Hui, the Chinese-American entrepreneur who bought Packard Bell for an undisclosed sum from Japanese electronics firm NEC last year, confirmed yesterday that the Hong Kong-listed company was in talks to take over its smaller, Europe-focused rival.

'It's still early days but we see this acquisition making a big impact for us in western Europe where Packard Bell is strong in the consumer space,' said Deepak Advani, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at Lenovo.

Packard Bell - the world's No14 personal computer supplier, with a 1 per cent market share in the first quarter, according to market research firm International Data Corp (IDC) - sold about 98 per cent of its products via retailers across Europe and the rest through an online store, company spokesman Hugues Gontier said.

Mr Advani said Lenovo's focus once the deal was completed would be to push the company's new line of consumer desktop and notebook computers, even though Packard Bell also has a solid following in consumer electronics devices.

Half of closely held Packard Bell's product sales worth Euro1.5 billion (HK$16.1 billion) last year consisted of personal computers, with the rest being consumer products.