UK: Check the Chinese company’s acquisition case for me. Chip manufacturer: Where are the people?

The acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), the largest chip manufacturer in the UK, by a Chinese company has been widely watched. Although British Prime Minister Johnson previously proposed a "security review" of the case, a month has passed and the British government has not made any move.

On the 3rd local time, the US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) quoted two anonymous insiders as saying that the British government has not yet notified NWF of the relevant review of Nexperia Semiconductor's acquisition of NWF under Wingtech Technology.

Earlier, some British MPs suggested that the transaction had so-called "national security" risks, considering the geopolitical importance of the semiconductor industry. Therefore, Johnson told MPs on the 7th of last month that he had ordered National Security Advisor Stephen Lovegrove to review the acquisition, and Lovegrove had 30 days to complete the review.

As the month is about to pass, a source told CNBC, "NWF has not received anything from the British government, no letter explaining the security review, nothing."

Another source also confirmed that NWF had not received any official correspondence from the British government.

CNBC said that the UK government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment on the matter and said it would "continue to monitor the situation closely", while NWF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1982, NWF is located in Wales and has many years of experience in manufacturing world-class high-end silicon devices. It is an important manufacturing service provider for many important industries and markets. The current monthly production capacity is more than 35,000 200mm wafers, covering various semiconductor technologies, including MOSFET and trench gate IGBT using wafer thinning methods to CMOS, analog and compound semiconductors.

Nexperia was previously a customer of NWF's foundry services and became its second largest shareholder by investing in Neptune 6 Limited in 2019. Previously, Nexperia said that this year's acquisition would help the company produce more chips to meet the soaring demand for chips.

NWF Xingang Factory Image source: Wingtech Technology

On July 5, Wingtech Technology announced that Nexperia has signed an acquisition agreement with NWF's parent company NEPTUNE 6 LIMITED and its shareholders. After the completion of this transaction, Nexperia will hold 100% equity of NEPTUNE and 100% equity of NWF through NEPTUNE.

CNBC previously quoted two sources as saying that the deal was worth about 63 million pounds (about 564 million yuan).

Wang Xiaolong, research director of the enterprise customized project department of "Centric Research", once analyzed to Observer.com that although the acquiring entity Nexperia is controlled by a Chinese company, Nexperia's headquarters is still located in the Netherlands, which is more or less helpful to the acquisition both in terms of legal significance and political risks.

Guancha.com learned from reliable sources that the British government only expressed concern about the acquisition, and did not support the anti-China remarks of individual MPs; there was no so-called security review issue in the acquisition, and the British government hoped to facilitate the transaction. At present, the transaction has been completed.

Source: Guanchazhe.com