Fujitsu, Lenovo agree to PC merger

TOKYO

Japan’s Fujitsu said on Nov. 2 it had agreed to merge its struggling PC business with Lenovo, giving the Chinese computer giant a controlling share of the business.

Tokyo-based Fujitsu said it had “decided to formally sign a deal” with Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker, and the government-backed Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) on a “strategic partnership” to develop and sell PCs. Lenovo will hold 51 percent of the shares in Fujitsu’s PC subsidiary, while the DBJ will hold five percent, Fujitsu said in a statement.

The deal should allow Fujitsu to pour more resources into its profitable IT services operations, while also pushing ahead with a sweeping restructuring program that will see 3,200 job cuts. The decision came after Fujitsu said last month it was in talks with

Lenovo over a potential deal, which pushed Fujitsu shares up by 7.8 percent.

The company had been in talks with Toshiba and Vaio to merge their once high-flying personal computer businesses, but those negotiations failed to result in a deal.

They have struggled in the face of stiff competition from lower-cost rivals overseas.