The International Olympic Committee has named the Acer computer company as the replacement for Lenovo as a worldwide Olympic sponsor, just two days after the Beijing-based company said it would end its deal after the Beijing Olympics.
The Taiwan-based Acer is the third-largest computer maker in the world, just ahead of Lenovo. Acer will take over the Olympic sponsorship deal in 2009, and will provide computers and other equipment for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is believed to be worth about $80 million.
IOC spokesman Gerhard Heiberg said Acer is making an important commitment to support sports and the world's Olympic athletes as well as the Vancouver and London Olympic organizing committees.
Earlier this week, Lenovo said it would drop its Olympic sponsorship deal in order to target specific markets. Global sponsorship is the highest level of Olympic sponsorship and is limited to about a dozen companies willing to pay top dollar to associate their brands with the Olympics worldwide. Sponsor deals are crucial to staging the Olympics. The so-called "Olympic Partner" program gives companies exclusive rights to both Winter and Summer Games.
