International E-commerce Information May 26, in early April, we reported that "the British government agreed to China's acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab". Then at the end of April, nine U.S. members of Congress jointly wrote a letter calling on Biden to intervene in and block Nexperia's merger and acquisition. In the letter, they suggested that if the UK does not accept US intervention, the US should include Newport Fab on the export control list, and even remove the UK from the "white list" of sensitive technology output.
Yesterday (Wednesday), British Commerce Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said in Twitter that the acquisition has been required to undergo a comprehensive national security assessment.
Kwasi Kwarteng claims to conduct a comprehensive assessment under the new National Security and Investment Act, "We welcome overseas investment, but we cannot threaten the national security of the UK." It is worth noting that previously, British Prime Minister , Boris Johnson said last year when asked whether he would sell the semiconductor manufacturer, that he did not want to drive Chinese investment in out of the UK because of the "anti-China spirit".
Newport Wafer Fab is the largest chip manufacturer in the UK, but compared with leading chip manufacturing companies such as TSMC and UMC , Newport Wafer Fab is not large in size and is currently in a loss-making state. The plant currently has about 450 employees.
The latest news from British media said that senior executives of Wingtech Technology will soon fly to the UK in person to meet with senior British government officials. Toni Versluijs, CEO of Anshi Semiconductor (Nexperia), also further stated that Nexperia is an Dutch company with a long European history, so there are no national security issues.
Event Review
- On July 5, 2021, Wingtech Technology issued an announcement announcing that it had signed a relevant acquisition agreement with NWF parent company NEPTUNE 6 LIMITED and its shareholders through Anshi Semiconductor. However, the deal caused a strong rebound in other countries.
- On July 7, 2021, the British government announced that it would investigate the deal by Nexperia, a subsidiary of China Wingtech Technology, to acquire Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the UK. The acquisition has sparked concerns among British legislators about national security and the future of high-tech.
- July 22, 2021, Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the UK Bureau of Research and Innovation (UKRI) has received instructions from authorities to suspend funding to NWF, the largest chip manufacturer in the UK. The reason is that on July 5, China Wingtech Technology has launched an acquisition of it through its subsidiary Nexperia. Paradoxically, before that, when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked whether he would continue to (allow) sell NWF to Chinese-owned Nexperia, he said he did not want to drive Chinese investors out of the UK due to "anti-China sentiment".
- On April 5, 2022, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament issued a 26-page report on the incident, which contained the organization's previous concerns and urged work on foreign investment and its impact on UK national security, and listed the British government's Nexperia acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab, and proposed review recommendations at the end of the report, urging the British government to follow up and strengthen the review of this acquisition that is concerned about national security.
- On April 21, 2022, nine U.S. Congress members jointly wrote a letter calling on Biden to intervene and block Nexperia's merger and acquisition. In the letter, they suggested that if the UK does not accept US intervention, the US should include Newport wafer fabs on the export control list, and even remove the UK from the "white list" of sensitive technology output.
Editor: ECHO
