Acer to Buy 15.6% Stake in PChome's Online Payment Gateway

Seeking to revive growth by diversifying from PC hardware into software and services, Taiwanese PC vendor Acer Inc. plans to buy seven million newly issued shares, equivalent to a 15.6% stake, in PChomePay, an online payment gateway owned by PChome Online Inc., an operator of one of the biggest three portal sites in Taiwan.

The deal was announced jointly by Acer Chairman Stan Shih and PChome Online Chairman Jan Hung-tze at a press conference held in Taipei on January 7. The stake will help Acer to branch into the third-party payment business as a strategic shareholder in the online payment gateway.

At the venue, Shih said his company aims to serve people in the fast-growing BYOC (build your own cloud) market.

PChome's Jan said that the partnership took only around one month to take shape and come true. It also represents Acer's entry into the Internet sector. He welcomed Acer's investment in the software and Internet industry as Taiwanese hardware manufacturers generally have globally competitive management and technologies, as well as strong growth momentum and sizeable resources, and expressed optimism about the future of the cooperation.

According to the two sides, Acer will also be a technology partner for PChomePay in the initial phase, to help strengthen the payment gateway's information security. The cooperation is expected to develop as Acer provides PChome with hardware, software and services compatible with the payment platform in the future.

Acer's acquisition will boost PChomePay's capitalization to NT$450 million (about US$15 million) from NT$380 million (US$12.67 million) at present. (SC)