Move set to fortify channel market and e-business efforts in Greater China TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Acer Inc. today announced that it is merging with Acer Sertek to create a unified IT products and services company with a special emphasis on e-business. The merger is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2002.
The merger of Acer Inc. with Acer Sertek - both publicly listed companies on the Taiwan stock market - will solidify and fortify Acer's efforts to transform from manufacturer to marketing and services provider, with e-business being the company's new core focus. The freshly formed company will be responsible for Acer Inc.'s traditional Acer-brand PC and IT marketing operations as well as the Greater China business and the development and execution of the company's top-priority e-business undertakings.
Acer's overall objective is to become a high-level services- and marketing-based solutions provider that contributes in meaningful ways to the fast-growing knowledge-economy of today.
Sertek, the very first company established within the Acer Group back in 1976, is currently responsible for the marketing, sale and distribution of Acer-brand products in Acer's newly defined home market of Taiwan and mainland China; Sertek is presently handling most of Acer's e-business-related concerns as well. Thus, blending the two companies is seen as a natural and advantageous realignment of resources.
In December of 2000 Acer launched a major internal reorganization that separated the Acer-brand end of the business from the manufacturing end, creating a new EMS OEM enterprise called Wistron.
The third element of Acer Inc., the Holding and Investment Business (HIB), is also set to support e-business endeavors through aggressive investment and mergers, consolidation and acquisition of strategic e-business resources, and partner companies.
"As the world turns from the IT era to the age of the knowledge-based economy, Acer plans to blaze the trail as the knowledge-based economy pioneer of Greater China - and eventually beyond," says Acer Group Chairman and CEO Stan Shih. "To achieve this goal, we are working to consolidate e-business-related units within the Acer Group, and combine with outside companies as well. The merger of Acer Inc. with Acer Sertek is an essential part of this process."
