Gateway Head to Step Down After Company Fusion

Ed Coleman, Gateway Corporate Executive Officer has resigned, three months after he coordinated the sale of his company to Taiwanese PC maker Acer. Coleman started his career at Gateway in September 2006, and announced that he would terminate his contract at the end of January next year.

Gateway has lost much of its glitter over time, but in its heydays it was a sharp competitor to heavy brands in the computer industry, such as Dell, HP and IBM. Before the purchase, Gateway had its own line of PCs (eMachines), and had effective control over Packard Bell.

Acer issued a press release to spread the news and credited Coleman for having played an essential role in the companies' achieving "tremendous progress" in integrating the back-end processes of the new fusion as well as in unifying the two corporations' brands.

"Acer would like to thank Ed Coleman for his leadership and professional contribution during this period and his continued support during the leadership transition between now and the end of January 2008", the company said in a press release announcing Coleman's resignation. The Taiwanese company Acer closed the Gateway deal in October and paid for it a total of $170 million. The latter company continues its activities as an Acer subsidiary and has just released a 30-inch LCD as well as some new notebook lines.

Upon the transaction, Acer also took control over Packard Bell that had formerly been purchased by Gateway. Acer chairman J.T. Wang stated that his company plans to create a multi-branded PC business that will produce a yearly income of over $15 billion and will be ranked as the third PC vendor worldwide, with over 20 million PC units shipped annually.

"The acquisition of Gateway and its strong brand immediately completes Acer's global footprint", Wang said in a statement immediately after the acquisition.


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