Nexperia, originally a Dutch chip company, takes over Newport Wafer Fab. That is the largest chip manufacturer in the United Kingdom. Nexperia has been the second largest shareholder of NWF since 2019.
With the acquisition, Newport Wafer Fab will be renamed Nexperia Newport, the company reports in a press release . Nexperia is a chip company from Nijmegen, which is currently owned by the Chinese Wingtech. The two companies will not disclose the amount involved in the acquisition, but CNBC sources report that Nexperia will pay approximately 73.5 million euros for Newport Wafer Fab.
Achim Kempe, the COO of Nexperia, states in the press release that the acquisition should help the company, among other things, to keep up with the rising demand for semiconductors. “We are delighted to include Newport as part of our global manufacturing capability. Nexperia has ambitious growth plans and the addition of Newport supports growing global demand for semiconductors.”
Newport Wafer Fab operates a single chip factory in Wales, where the company makes 200mm wafers on 180nm processes and larger. This fab has a capacity of 35,000 wafers per month, from mosfets and igbts with trench gates, to cmos and analog semiconductors. According to CNBC sources, NWF has several outstanding debts, including £20 million with the bank HSBC and £18 million with the Welsh government. These debts would be repaid immediately after the takeover.
Concerns have been raised in the UK over the sale of a British chip maker to a Chinese company amid global chip shortages. Tom Tugendhat, head of the UK government’s China Research Group and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, tells CNBC that he is “surprised” that the acquisition is not being looked at under the National Security and Investment Act, which was passed under the National Security and Investment Act. April was introduced.
“The semiconductor sector is covered by this legislation, which aims to protect British technology companies from foreign takeovers when there is a material risk to economic and national security,” Tugendhat told the US medium. He added that the government “has yet to explain why it is closing its eyes to the fact that the largest British foundry is falling into the hands of an entity from a country that has historically used technology to exert geopolitical pressure”.
NWF itself indicates that it is happy with the takeover. The company’s operations director said in a press release that the acquisition is “good news” for the company’s employees, as Nexperia provides “necessary investment and stability” going forward. Outgoing NWF Chairman Drew Nelson writes, “The change of ownership marks an important step for the future of the facility and also for the region.”
