Acer buyout would be 'welcome,' says founder

August 28, 2015 | 12:01

Tags: #acquisition #buyout #financial #slump #traditional-pc

Companies: #acer

Acer's honorary chair and founder Stan Shih has stated that he would 'welcome' a takeover bid for his company, as its share price continues to slide and its sales decline.

Acer has been one of the biggest victims of the ongoing slump in traditional PC sales, having reported losses culminating in a whopping $90 million for the first half of its current financial year. With sales down 33 per cent in the last month alone and its share price now at half where it was in April this year, it's clear that the company - currently the fifth largest producer of traditional PCs in the world - cannot continue as it is doing.

Asked about the possibility of a takeover by a larger competitor, such as Lenovo or Dell, company founder and honorary chair Stan Shih told local Taiwanese reporters that such a move would be 'welcome, according to a verified translation published late yesterday by newswire service Reuters. Shih warned, however, that the company would at such a point be little more than an 'empty shell,' costing the potential buyer dearly in return for very little.

Boasting of the Taiwanese ethic for 'a sense of mission and emotional factors,' Shih claimed that 'US and European management teams usually are concerned about money, their CEOs only work for money.' Given his focus on national concerns, any such buyout offer would likely come from a fellow Taiwanese company such as Asus, rather than a western competitor like Dell. Given its continued losses and shrinking sales, however, it's not clear whether any such buyout offer would arrive before the company is forced to take dramatic action of its own.

Acer's share price remained largely unchanged on the news, continuing a slow uptick from its Monday low.
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