In July 2021, it emerged that Nexperia – a Dutch chip firm wholly owned by Shanghai-based Wingtech – had confirmed plans to acquire the UK’s largest chip producer, Newport Wafer Fab in a deal valued at £63m.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had asked the National Security Advisor to take a look at the deal after the government initially decided not to intervene, despite admitting that semiconductors are critical to the UK’s national security and wider global interests.
Now, the Foreign Affairs Committee has called on the government to clarify the circumstances in which the National Security Adviser was asked to engage in the review and why Johnson asked for it to be undertaken in the first place. They also question why the review was never taken.
The Committee also urged for greater clarity on the nature of the continued monitoring by the Investment Security Unit.
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat MP, said: “For over a year, the Committee...