UK approves Vishay deal to buy Newport Wafer Fab with restrictions
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The UK government has approved the sale of the Newport Wafer Fab to Siliconix and Vishay Intertechnology in the US with significant restrictions on who can use the plant.
The sale of the Nexperia Newport Wafer Fab in Wales was forced by the UK government over national security concerns under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
This Act gives the UK Secretary of State powers to assess acquisitions of control over entities and assets in, or linked to, the UK that may pose national security risks, and Nexperia is owned by Wingtech of China. The Nexperia power fab in Hazel Grove. Manchester, UK, was unaffected.
While Nexperia had been using the fab to produce CMOS power devices, it had also been operating as a gallium nitride foundry for aerospace and defence companies.
The Secretary of State made a Final Order under section 26 of the Act, which came into force yesterday. This includes the condition for Vishay to inform the UK government in advance of any deal that allows a third party to use any part of the Newport site.
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After a year of disputes, on 8 November 2023, Siliconix & Vishay entered into a share purchase agreement with Nexperia to purchase 100% of the voting shares of Neptune 6, which ultimately owns Nexperia Newport, which owns the “Newport site” in Wales.
The final order allows the acquisition, subject to the condition that Siliconix, Vishay, or their subsidiaries must inform the Secretary of State in advance of completing any agreement to sell, transfer, grant a lease or licence to any third party which allows that third party to use any part of the Newport site.
This is to avoid any risk to national security that would arise should sensitive intellectual property, expertise and/or other sensitive information relating to compound semiconductor design, research and development or manufacturing at the Newport site, including their dual use applications, become accessible to third parties.
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