EMachines Founder Buys Shares

A founding director of EMachines Inc. said Monday that he has acquired all the remaining shares of the Irvine low-cost personal computer maker at $1.06 a share in a $159-million cash buyout.

The director, Lap Shun “John” Hui of Garden Grove, used one of his companies, EM Holdings Inc., to complete the transaction. Hui had owned nearly 1.3% of EMachines. The purchase price values EMachines, the nation’s third-largest vendor of desktop PCs in stores, at about $161 million.

EMachines has lost $295 million since early 1998, but executives have said they expect a revamped company to break even or post a slight profit for the final three months of the year.

EM Holdings released its news after the market closed. EMachines hit a 52-week high of $1.05 a share during trading and closed at $1.04, up 4 cents a share in over-the-counter trading. The company’s stock began falling from its March 2000 initial public offering price of $9 a share and never recovered.

James S. Granelli