Gateway shares rose almost 8 per cent on Wednesday on hopes the struggling computer maker might be put into play following Lenovo’s proposed bid for Packard Bell, a smaller European rival.

The rise came as Lenovo, the Chinese computer maker that bought IBM’s PC business two years ago, was understood to be close to sealing a deal to buy Packard Bell, a small computer maker owned by John Hui, who also has a stake of just under 3 per cent in Gateway.