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By Tom Mitchell in Hong Kong IBM, which completed the $1.25bn sale of its PC business to China's largest computer maker in 2005, has been selling down shares in Lenovo that it acquired through the deal. The most recent disposal, arranged by Citigroup, will reduce the US company's stake in Lenovo to 11.5 per cent. IBM is cashing in on a modest rebound in Lenovo's shares that began in June after they bottomed out at HK$2.187. IBM initially priced its disposal offer at HK$3.20-HK$3.30 a share, representing a discount of 4-7.5 per cent. It ultimately placed the 300m shares on offer at the bottom of that range. Lenovo shares were suspended at HK$3.20 Investors had punished Lenovo over the first half of last year after it revealed the extent of losses arising from the acquisition of IBM's troubled PC unit. Lenovo's ability to turn the unit round is seen as a key test of corporate China's ability to go global and establish recognised brands outside its own borders. In spite of Lenovo's admission in November that it was losing market share and experiencing price pressure in the US, recording an 8.3 per cent fall in American second-quarter sales to $1.07bn and operating losses there of $18m, its Hong Kong-traded shares had recovered to almost HK$3.50 this month. US sales decreased another 4 per cent in the third quarter to $1bn, though this was offset by the Greater China market
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