Compal Electronics has disclosed that it will not sell its stake in a China joint-venture (JV) with Lenovo until after late 2017.

The revelation, posted on Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on December 23, was a response to a report that said Compal and Lenovo have an agreement allowing the latter to take over the JV completely by buying Compal's stake.

The Compal statement said Lenovo will not be able to exercise the buy-out right until October 1, 2017, and the acquisition price cannot exceed US$750 million. Compal invested about US$150 million in the JV.

The JV, formed in 2010, mainly manufactures notebooks. Lenovo has been increasing its notebook orders to the JV, and as a result the vendor's orders for other Taiwan-based ODMs - including Compal as a separate entity from the JV - have decreased.