SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 1995--Packard Bell and NEC Corp. today signed a formal agreement under which NEC acquired 19.99 percent of the major home computer manufacturer.

NEC invested $170 million for its equity share.

Last month, executives of the two companies said NEC and Packard Bell have agreed to cooperate on research and development, manufacturing and procurement and will also work together to develop technical standards and products for the worldwide multimedia market, a strategy likely to encompass joint development of PCs, game systems, set top boxes and mobile devices.

Groupe Bull, which purchased a 19.99 percent share in Packard Bell in July 1993, will maintain its position.

The NEC/Packard Bell alliance builds on existing business relationships between the powerful computer companies. NEC currently supplies Packard Bell with many components for its home computers and NEC bundles Packard Bell's innovative Navigator software interface on the multimedia PCs it sells in Japan.

"NEC shares our vision for the evolution of multimedia products into the home," Beny Alagem, president and CEO, Packard Bell, said. "We will work together to bring the latest technology to the consumer."

Based in Sacramento, Packard Bell designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of PC-compatible desktop computers. Packard Bell is the leading supplier of PCs in the U.S. mass retail channel, according to Audits and Surveys, a research firm that tracks the retail market. Packard Bell is the fourth largest computer company worldwide in terms of shipments, according to International Data Corp., Framingham, Mass.

NEC Corp., founded in 1899, has headquarters in Tokyo and had net sales of US $43 billion in 1994-5 fiscal year. NEC manufactures and markets a broad range of products, including communication systems, which extends from switching systems to cellular phones, computer systems, which extends from super computers to personal computers, and electronic devices, which extends from microprocessors to memory chips.

CONTACT: The Bohle Company

Liz O'Donnell

310/785-0515