Lenovo Group Ltd. won clearance from a US national security oversight committee to acquire IBM's personal computer business, the companies said on Wednesday, overcoming resistance from some US lawmakers.

Stephen Ward, general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Division, said in a telephone interview that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had given the deal its unanimous consent. It was the final external approval needed to put the US$1.3 billion acquisition on track to close in the second quarter.

The companies received notification of the approval on Tuesday, he said.

Ward is slated to become the chief executive of Lenovo, which is headquartered in Beijing, once the deal closes.

The acquisition of IBM's PC business by China's biggest PC maker is the first such combination ever of a major US multinational and a top Chinese manufacturer. It will create the world's third largest PC maker which will be strongly positioned in several fast-growing markets.

The deal met unexpected resistance when some US lawmakers began expressing fears that China's acquisition of the business could threaten national security.

CFIUS is composed of 11 US agencies and was created in 1998 to conduct security reviews of business deals.

Ward said terms of the approval are confidential, but that no compromises were required over the location of Lenovo facilities in sensitive research areas, nor were limits put on Lenovo's ability to sell PCs to US agencies.

"I don't think we made any compromises at all," Ward said.

(China Daily March 10, 2005)