Lenovo finalises deal for Fujitsu's client computing business

Lenovo has confirmed it is to acquire a 51 percent stake in Fujitsu's client computing business, turning subsidiary Fujitsu Client Computing Limited into a joint venture and further cementing Lenovo's position as the largest single shipper of traditional PCs in the world.

Despite announcing 1,000 job cuts just last month Lenovo has finally concluded the PC business talks it opened with Fujitsu over a year ago with the decision to enter into a joint venture with the company. Announced following the company's latest earnings call, which showed five percent year-on-year and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter revenue growth, the deal will see Lenovo pay Fujitsu £169 million for a controlling 51 percent stake in Fujitsu Client Computing Limited. A further five percent stake will be acquired by the Development Bank of Japan, leaving Fujitsu with just 44 percent of the company which bears its name.

The revamped company will, under current representative director and president Kuniaki Saito who retains his role, concentrate on the development and sale of Fujitsu-branded client devices - including traditional PCs and tablet computers - in the global market while giving the Chinese Lenovo a route into Japan.

As of 2016, Lenovo held the lion's share of the traditional PC market at 20.7 percent with Hewlett Packard (HP) close behind at 19.4 percent. The deal with Fujitsu will help Lenovo hold on to that lead, which it gained in 2013 after HP slipped to second place on slowed growth.