China's Lenovo buys stake in Germany's Medion

HONG KONG (AP) - China's Lenovo Group says it is buying a stake in German consumer-electronics group Medion AG that will help boost its market share in Europe.

Lenovo Group, the fourth-largest personal computer maker, said Wednesday it will pay 231 million euros ($333.5 million) to buy 37 percent of Medion's outstanding shares. It will pay 13 euros a share.

After the purchase, Lenovo's share of the personal computer market in Germany will double to 14 percent. Its share of the PC market in Western Europe will rise to about 7.5 percent, making it the third-largest player.

Lenovo said the deal would fuel its expansion in consumer PCs and the high-growth mobile Internet market.

Lenovo has expanded aggressively outside China since becoming a global brand by acquiring IBM Corp.'s PC unit in 2005.