Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Acer Inc., the Taiwan computer maker that acquired Gateway Inc., climbed the most in two months in Taipei trading after a researcher said the company's third-quarter shipment growth outpaced Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.

Acer, Asia's second-biggest personal-computer maker, rose 6.5 percent to NT$67 at the end of trading in Taipei, the biggest gain since Aug. 20. The stock is unchanged this year, lagging behind the 23 percent advance in the benchmark Taiex index.

Worldwide shipments of Taipei-based Acer rose 59 percent in the third quarter, the highest growth among the world's five largest PC makers, researcher IDC said yesterday. Acer said Aug. 27 it would buy Gateway for $710 million, prompting the shares to fall by the daily limit the next two days on concerns it was overpaying for the purchase.

``After the Gateway acquisition, investors were cautious on Acer,'' said Claire Chang, who helps manage NT$4.5 billion ($138 million) at Paradigm Asset Management Co. in Taipei. Investors now realize Acer ``has to spend this money to keep growing,'' said Chang, whose holdings don't include Acer shares.

Acer's market share climbed to 8.1 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 5.9 percent a year earlier, IDC said. Stella Chou, a Taipei-based spokeswoman at Acer, declined to comment on the shipment figures.

Hewlett-Packard is the world's largest PC maker with a 19.6 percent share, followed by Dell and Lenovo Group Ltd., which also leads in Asia, according to the research company.

Acer said on Oct. 16 it completed the acquisition of Irvine, California-based Gateway, a move aimed at boosting its market share. Gateway is the fifth-largest U.S. computer supplier.

Acer received a NT$19.8 billion loan from Citibank to help finance the tender, the Taiwanese company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange this month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 18, 2007 04:49 EDT