Acer of Taiwan has announced the purchase of the American company Gateway for $710 millionBoston (EON) - Acer of Taiwan has announced the purchase of the American company Gateway for $710 million.

Acer is going to offer all outstanding shares of Gateway for $1.90 per share which comes out to $710 million. This is a 57% premium to the share price of Gateway.

The deal includes the right of first refusal on the part of Gateway to acquire Packard Bell in Europe.

Gateway’s operating loss for 2006 was $18.9 million, up from $0.6 million in 2005.

Acer’s 2006 revenue was $11.32 billion compared to $3.98 for Gateway.

Chairman of Acer JT Wang stated that “This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally.”