NEW YORK -- China's Lenovo Group will buy IBM's PC business for $1.75 billion in cash and stock, according to several news reports and company sources.

With the acquisition, Lenovo would become the third-largest PC company in the world, with sales of $12 billion, said Lenovo chairman Liu Chuanzhihe.

IBM is currently the third largest maker of PCs, behind Dell (16.4%) and HP(13.9%). The merged company will have an 8% share of the global PC market.

Leveno will acquire a 81.1% stake with IBM holding 18.9%.

Stephen M. Ward, Jr., currently IBM senior vice president and general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Group, will serve as the chief executive of Lenovo when the deal closes. Yuanqing Yang, currently vice chairman, president and chief executive of Lenovo, will become chairman of Lenovo.

Lenovo, China's biggest computer maker, claiming a 27% share, is traded publicly on the Hong Kong exchange.

In a Dec. 8 research note, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said anticipated supplier consolidation by Lenovo could hurt Sanmina-SCI. DB estimates Sanmina-SCI generates about 20% of its revenue from building PC boards for IBM.

"We believe IBM-Lenovo will look to consolidate its supply base following the completion of the acquisition, creating downward pressure on margins [and] pricing across the PC supply chain," Whitmore wrote. He speculated that Sanmina-SCI would either see less volume and lower margins.

Sanmina-SCI could lose $50 million in annual operating profits if Lenovo were to end IBM's existing PC board supply deal.

Lenovo was founded in 1984 and was formerly known as Legend. It has a 2% share of the PC market, according to Gartner.

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TEMPE, AZ, Dec. 6 — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in November for the 18th consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 37th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives.

A report was issued today by the Institute for Supply Management (www.ism.ws) found the closely watched PMI index at 57.8% in November, up one point from October. The new orders index rose 3.2 points to 61.5%. The figures reversed a three-month slide.

"The manufacturing sector appears poised to end the year on a strong note as the new orders index made its way back above the 60% mark, and the employment index picked up significant momentum," said chairman Norbert Ore. "There is still significant upward pressure on prices as commodity price increases are common."

A PMI over 50 is considered a sign of an expansion.

Other findings: There is significant upward pressure on prices. Customer inventories are too low. Order backlogs fell in November. New export orders and imports continued to grow.

Comments from respondents this month focused on inflationary concerns. While many manufacturers are enjoying strong sales, there is concern that commodity prices are eroding profits. Energy leads the list of inflationary drivers as many commodities are derived from oil and gas feedstocks.

Production fell 1.9 points to 57% percent in November. Employment is at 57.6%, up 2.8 points.

The inventories index registered 50.7 percent in November, up from the 48.2 percent reported in October. ISM's customers' inventories index is at 43.5 percent. The prices index fell 4.5 points to 74%.

The order backlog index fell 1.5 points to 47.5%. The new export orders index was 54.7%, down 1.9 points. Imports decreased 0.1 point to 58.4% in November.

"It appears the manufacturing sector is definitely sustaining its momentum as this month's PMI strengthened slightly while continuing to indicate a gradual downward trend," said Ore. "Prices are a big issue, but the strength in new orders offsets some of those concerns as companies work to benefit from the volume."

In November, 15 industries reported growth including Industrial and Commercial Equipment and Computers, and Electronic Components and Equipment.

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DEK has signed an exclusive OEM partner agreement with Stork Veco, a European manufacturer of electroform stencils. The companies will develop electroformed stencils for the SMT industry and semiconductor market, including a soon-to-be released VectorGuard electroformed stencil with interchangeable foils.

 

Electroformed stencils are effective in applications with high numbers of apertures, and demand better printing characteristics than can be achieved using laser-cut or chemically etched stencils.

 

Under the agreement, DEK will take full ownership for front-end orders, enquiries and on-site reports. Stork will then manufacture the stencil, before delivering it to DEK for final assembly and delivery to the end customer. Stork will no longer sell directly to end customers.

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MUNICH, Dec. 1 -- Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems, which has reportedly installed more placement machines than any other company, today disclosed its latest machine platform to a group of editors, including Circuits Assembly.

The Siplace X-series comes in two, three and four gantry versions and features an innovative head with 20 nozzles. Further, it reaches placement speeds of up to 20,000 components per hour, Siemens says. Designed for modularity and flexibility, it marks the equipment giant's first new platform in years.

The new machine is currently in beta testing at BMK Electronics, a contract assembler in Augsburg, and at Fujitsu Siemens. Siemens will officially roll out Siplace X in February, at Apex.

The new platform also comes with next-generation feeder modules and a new vision system.

At 2.4 by 2.5 meters, the platform footprint is the same as Siemens' previous models.

During the conference, Tilo Brandis, head of Siemens Electronic Assembly Systems, said the division grew 40% during its recently completed fiscal year 2003 -- twice the industry average. The company is on pace to ship 1286 placement machines in 2004, up more than 300 from 2003.