U.K. Ministers Won’t Block Chinese Takeover of British Chipmaker

Emily Ashton, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government has decided not to intervene in the takeover of Britain’s biggest semiconductor plant by a Chinese-owned company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Britain’s national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove was asked by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to review the sale of Welsh-based Newport Wafer Fab to Nexperia NV last August to see if there were “real security implications.”

Lovegrove has now concluded that the takeover can go ahead, the person said. The decision was first reported by Politico.

Nexperia Hits Back at U.K. ‘Sneering’ at China Ties in Chip Deal

The move to allow Nexperia to acquire the U.K. chipmaker sparked alarm among lawmakers in Johnson’s ruling Conservative party, who argued it was a national security concern because the Netherlands-based firm is ultimately owned by China-headquartered Wingtech.

Both the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Johnson’s office had no immediate comment.

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