Lenovo plans to raise $1.5 billion for potential mobile acquisitions

Lenovo CEO Yang
Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing (Credit: SCMP/Nora Tam)

Lenovo plans to raise $1.5 billion to generate working capital and for potential acquisitions, according to a company filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It recently agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.9 billion (about £1.88bn, or AU$3.12bn) and IBM's server unit for $2.3 billion (about £1.36bn, or AU$2.48bn).

The company recently underwent a corporate restructure in order to diversify its product line. The changes, which went into effect April 1, restructured the overall business into four divisions: PC, Mobile, Enterprise, and Ecosystem and Cloud Services.

Changing reputation

The Motorola Mobility and IBM server division acquisitions better enable the company to transition its reputation from strictly a PC maker to an enterprise and consumer technology company. Lenovo rival, Acer, also recently stated its desire to move away from its reputation as a PC company.

Last month, Lenovo made an additional investment in mobile technology, including a $100 million acquisition of 21 patents related to 3G, 4G, and other mobile technologies.

Lenovo was rumored to be considering purchasing Blackberry in October, two months after a Lenovo exec said the company was looking for opportunities to expand its mobile business.

Servers and international intrigue

Lenovo purchased IBM's server infrastructure division to diversify its product line-up. However, it was recently reported the acquisition might be on hold because of IBM's relationship with the Pentagon and FBI.

According to the reports, the US has been banning Chinese hardware firms from government contracts. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US is investigating the acquisition.

Lenovo's 2013 revenue was $33.9 billion (about £20bn, or au$35.5bn), an increase of 13% compared with 2012. Net income improved to $631 million (about £374m, or au$680m) in 2013, a 34% increase year-over-year.