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HONG KONG, May 30: Lenovo Group Ltd. has tweaked a deal with IBM to allow the U.S. company to sell its nearly 15 percent stake in China's top personal computer maker by November 2007, six months earlier than agreed.

Under the amended deal, IBM could also sell up to two-thirds of its 1.3 billion shares in Lenovo from May 25, 2006 -- twice the amount originally agreed upon, the Chinese company said in a statement.

IBM would then be allowed to offload its remaining one-third stake from November 1, 2007.

But analysts say IBM is unlikely to dump its slice of Lenovo immediately, with shares of China's largest PC maker hovering below IBM's entry level of about HK$2.675. ''The stock is oversold. I expect IBM will not offload its stakes at a price below its entry level. I do not see a great selling pressure,'' said Morgan Stanley analyst Viktor Ma.

Shares in Lenovo had risen more than 3 percent before ending Tuesday up 1 percent at HK$2.35, outperforming a 0.66 percent dip in the broader market.

Analysts said the rise in Lenovo's stock price was unrelated to the new agreement.

''The stock price bottomed when Lenovo announced its result last week. The worst is over,'' said Core Pacific Yamaichi analyst Pauline Lau.

''Lenovo's strength lies in both high-end and low-end products.

IBM will wait for Lenovo to gain more market share before selling Lenovo's shares.'' Originally, IBM had been entitled to sell a third of its shares every year between May 2006 and May 2008.

The adjusted agreement would allow IBM to reduce its shareholding in an orderly manner, and Lenovo would minimise any regulatory burden associated with the IBM relationship, the Chinese company said in a brief filing to the stock exchange.

IBM got Lenovo shares and cash as part of the Chinese firm's $1.25 billion acquisition of Big Blue's PC business in 2005 -- a business that has since weighed on Lenovo, particularly in Asia.

The Chinese firm's shares have fallen 34 percent so far this year, lagging a 6.6 percent percent gain in the benchmark index.

REUTERS