Taiwan's leading computer vendor Acer Inc said Monday it was ready to acquire all the outstanding shares of United States based Gateway Inc for 710 million US dollars.

"Acer will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all the outstanding shares of Gateway for 1.90 US dollars per share, which represents total equity value consideration of approximately 710 million US dollars," it said in a statement.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of both Gateway and Acer and is expected to close by December 2007.

The acquisition will give Acer, which started in 1976 as a maker of PCs for other companies, rights to bid for Packard Bell BV in Europe, stymieing efforts by Lenovo to expand. Gateway, the fourth-biggest PC maker in the U.S., is reentering European and Asian markets after withdrawing from them in 2001 to cut costs.

Combined sales of Acer and Gateway will top $15 billion with shipments of more than 20 million PCs, the companies said. About $150 million will be saved from the merger, they said.