An offer for a computer company founded in the Midwest could put it in foreign hands. It’s a turnaround of sorts. Gateway Computers, based for years in North Sioux City, bought a company called eMachines two years ago from a Chinese entrepreneur named Lap Shun Hui, for about 290-Million dollars in cash and stock.
That made Hui the second-largest shareholder in Gateway, behind founder Ted Waitt, and now he’s a successful business-products developer, he’s made an offer to buy Gateway. Though company execs so far are leaning toward turning down the deal, analysts say it might not be a bad thing to split up Gateway’s retail computer operations and other aspects of its business, and its sagging stock took a jump on news of the buyout offer.
