By | John Oates 4th May 2005 09:09

IBM Lenovo gets new head

Eyes dotted, teas crossed

Lenovo has appointed a chief executive as it completes the buyout of IBM's PC business.

Lenovo is the proud new owner of IBM’s PC business which has makes it the world’s third largest PC maker behind Dell and HP. The deal needed US government approval because Lenovo is part-owned by the Chinese government.

Stephen Ward, Lenovo’s newly appointed chief executive, said the firm would have new products ready for release within weeks.

Yuanquing Yang is taking over as chairman from Lenovo’s founder Lui Chaunzhi who stays on as a non-exec director. Ward takes over as CEO - he was previously general manager of IBM’s personal systems group. Robert Moffat and Henry Chow will sit on the Lenovo board as observers.

Three additional board members will be appointed once the funding deal goes through. The company is raising $350m from private equity groups Texas Pacific, General Atlantic and Newbridge Capital.

Lenovo paid $1.25bn for IBM’s PC business, $650m in cash and $600m in Lenovo shares. The firm claims one third of the domestic Chinese market. Lenovo will retain IBM's ThinkPad brand for notebook computers.

Press release on IBM.com here. ®