Nexperia, a Dutch company owned by Wingtech Technology of China, has completed the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Wales.
No financial details were available, but sources say the deal is worth about £ 63 million.
The two companies said they were “excited” about the deal, but the announcement expressed concern across the UK. Market watchers were worried that the government had approved the sale of significant assets to Chinese-owned companies amid a global chip shortage that could last for years.
NWF is capable of producing power and compound semiconductor ICs on wafers with a diameter of 200 mm, producing approximately 35,000 wafers per month.
Tom Tugendart, a Conservative member of Tonbridge and Maring and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Selection Committee, said the government has not yet ordered a review of the NWF acquisition under the National Security Investment Act (NSIA). I was surprised. “
Introduced in April, NSIA empowers the government to prevent foreign takeovers for national security reasons.
“The semiconductor industry sector is within the scope of the law and its purpose is to protect national technology companies from foreign acquisitions when there are significant economic and national security risks,” Tugendhat said. I am.
“I know I’m not alone by staying in touch with partners in the US and around the world.”
In early June, Villa Tugendhat asked British business secretary Kwasikwaten to consider the proposed NWF deal under the new law.
“The acquisition of the UK’s leading 200mm silicon and semiconductor technology development and processing facility by a Chinese entity reiterates, in my view, a significant economic and national security concern. It must be, “said Mr. Tugendart at the time.
However, Mr. Quarten refused to investigate and instead said the government was closely monitoring the situation.
The contract between Nexperia and NWF came about when China was trying to achieve self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing. The country has faced US sanctions for the past two years, banning Chinese companies from buying chips made with US technology.
Owned by Chinese private-equity fund Wingtech Technology, Nexperia is already NWF’s second largest shareholder.
Wingtech acquired Nexperia in 2018 as part of its global expansion into microchips. This Chinese company is assembling smartphones for companies such as Huawei.
Nexperia hopes that the contract with NWF will allow it to manufacture more chips and meet global semiconductor demand.
Paul James, NWF’s director of operations, said the deal would help secure significant investment for the company.
Drunelson, retired chairman of NWF, said: “The change of ownership of the Newport site is an important step for the future of the facility and the region. We are pleased to be able to maintain our advanced development expertise. Closing the 200 mm wafer fab silicon device At the same time, it opens up the opportunity to add new semiconductor technologies. “
According to sources CNBC Most of £ 63m will go to NWF’s debt repayment. NWF owes HSBC Holdings about £ 20m, and the Wales government owes an additional £ 18m. These debts will be repaid when the transaction is completed.
