Trends

IBM`s decision to sell its PC business to Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group is offering lessons both in how to expand into emerging markets and how US federal regulators will view such deals.

Concerned that the $1.75 billion deal may represent national security threats, the committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, or CFIUS, is considering reviewing the merger, which would create the third largest PC vendor in the world. The inter-agency panel, chaired by the US Department of the Treasury, reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign companies.

CFIUS is interested in learning what technology will be transferred from IBM to Lenovo once the deal is closed next quarter. There is also concern that Chinese nationals could use IBM`s PC facilities in Raleigh, North Carolina, to conduct industrial espionage.