eMachines has, officially, a new owner. This is Lap Shun "John" Hui, a founder and director of eMachines, and sole owner of EM Holdings which has bought the budget PC maker for $161m.

Not such a surprise this, as the transaction was agreed and had been in the public domain since November.

However, at the eleventh-and-a-half hour, a US district court froze the deal, pending an application for a review of terms by a disgruntled class action litigant. Called John Hock, this intervenor plaintiff argued that the deal did leave enough money to settle a suit accusing the company of supplying some PCs with defective floppy disk controllers.

The restraining order expired on December 28 - Hock had until December 31 to post a $5,000 bond with the court to argue his case. Doesn't look like it got that far. ®

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