BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhuanet) -- China's computer giant Lenovo and the US behemoth IBM announced Sunday that Lenovo has completed the acquisition of the PC unit of IBM, marking the birth of the third largest PC enterprise in the world.

    "It's a historic event for Lenovo, which marks the start of a new era of the global PC industry," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of the Lenovo Group.

    According to Stephen Ward, chief executive officer (CEO) of Lenovo, new products will be launched in the name of the new Lenovo in weeks.

    The new Lenovo, boasting the world-famous laptop brand "Thinkpad" and the well-known brand "Lenovo" in China, will cover about one third of China's PC market and hold a leading position in the world PC market.

    According to the acquisition agreement signed between Lenovo Group and IBM on Dec. 8 last year, Lenovo has paid 1.25 billion USdollars for all the PC business of IBM, including 650 million US dollars in cash and Lenovo's shares valued at 600 million US dollars.

    After the trade, IBM will hold 18.9 percent of Lenovo's shares and Lenovo will assume about 500 million US dollars net debt of IBM.

    The senior management team for new Lenovo comes from both sides.Yang, taking the place of Liu Chuanzhi, initiator of Lenovo, has been appointed chairman of the board of directors, while Liu takesthe position of a non-executive director.

    Stephen Ward, former senior vice president of IBM, also acts asdirector of the board.

    After the acquisition deal, Lenovo's PC business is expected tohave an annual income of 13 billion US dollars with an annual saleof about 14 million PCs. Enditem