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The UK government halts funding to the NWF after Nexperia, a semiconductor company affiliated with Chinese company Wingtech, announced that it would acquire Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), the UK’s largest semiconductor maker, which produces semiconductors such as automobiles and smartphones. was reported to have instructed.
On July 5, 2021, Nexperia announced that it had completed the transaction leading up to the acquisition of NWF and acquired full ownership. However, since Nexperia is a subsidiary of a Chinese company, there is high criticism within the UK for selling important national assets to foreign countries. Tom Tugendart, chairman of the British Foreign Relations Commission, said he was surprised that the acquisition was not considered in the new National Security Investment Act, which was introduced in April 2021, and that a government spokesman is monitoring the situation closely.
On July 20, 2021, it was reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had ordered to stop funding the UK Research and Innovation Organization UKRI, a public institution funded by the NWF. According to sources, the NWF has more than a dozen funding agreements with the UK government. The amount is estimated at over £55 million.
The contract also includes a defense contract for the NWF to provide semiconductors to military companies in the UK. Regarding the NWF’s manufacturing of semiconductors for the military industry, Johnson said it is necessary to determine whether what the NWF is making deserves real intellectual property value and attention to China and whether it has real security implications.
However, the government does not appear to have any plans to intervene in the acquisition itself. A government official said the current acquisition has no national security concerns, but the government is in close contact with the NWF as to whether commerce is primarily a stakeholder issue and does not believe it is appropriate to intervene at this time. Related information can be found here.
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