Lenovo's Medion acquisition gets regulatory go-ahead

Lenovo (0992.HK) has received regulatory approval for its US$673.8 million purchase of a controlling stake in German firm Medion (MDN.ETR), bringing it one step closer to expanding its operations in western Europe, the South China Morning Post reported. Lenovo said in a filing with the Hong Kong Exchange on Wednesday that the acquisition of the German personal computer company had received “antitrust clearance from the European Commission.” The Brussels-based commission gave Lenovo the green light after deciding that the merged entity would have the most impact on PC markets in Germany and Denmark, and still face strong competitors such as Acer (2353.TPE), HP (HPQ.NYSE) and Asus (2357.TPE). The deal, Lenovo’s biggest since its US$1.75 billion purchase of IBM Corp’s (IBM.NYSE) PC business in 2005, is expected to close next month and give Lenovo a 55-80% stake in Medion.