Lenovo and NEC on Thursday confirmed a rumored deal to merge their PC businesses in Japan. The resulting NEC Lenovo Japan Group will be the largest single computer maker in the country and will see the two work together on not just developing computers but on future tablets. Both companies will keep using their brand names on home devices but should also help Japanese companies sell hardware beyond the island and sell servers.
NEC is Japan’s most popular PC brand, with 18 percent market share, according to Gartner.
Smartphone development was also a possibility, Lenovo chief Yang Yuanqing added.
The deal gives Lenovo the controlling stake, with a 51 percent share, but will have NEC’s Personal Products head Hideyo Takasu control the new group. Lenovo’s representative director Roderick Lappin would be executive chairman. NEC’s PC division will now be a subsidiary of the new group, and it will get a $175 million cash infusion from Lenovo.
The deal should be completed before the end of June.
