US government clears China for big deal with IBM

March 9, 2005      (Page 1 of 4)

Lenovo Group of China just received clearance from the US government for a large personal computer transaction with IBM.

The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, a multiagency panel that evaluates acquisitions of American companies by foreign entities, unanimously approved Lenovo's plan to buy IBM's Personal Computing Division.

It had been conducting a review of the deal's potential impact on national security.

IBM, which announced the agreement to sell its PC business to Lenovo in December, plans to take an 18.9 percent stake in the postdeal Lenovo, which plans to reincorporate in the United States. The deal is expected to close on time during the second quarter, IBM said Wednesday.

Stephen Ward, IBM"We were able to get unanimous agreement from the members of the committee," Stephen Ward, general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Division, said in a telephone interview with Reuters. Ward will become chief executive of the combined company.

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