海角视频 Government ministers should urgently intervene in the sale of Newport Wafer Fab to a Chinese-owned company, says the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC).
The MPs on the cross-party Westminster committee said “our sovereignty should not be for sale” as they called for tougher action to prevent strategically important companies being sold overseas.
The committee has called for the takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Chinese-owned Nexperia to be formally called in for review, with the 海角视频 Government imposing “appropriate mitigation measures”.
Nexperia, which previously had a minority stake in the Newport-based business, has acquired the facility that employs nearly 500 at what is the 海角视频's biggest maker of microchips, for £65m.
It was able to take control following issues over the plant's ability to fulfil a major contract to Chinese tech firm, Wingtech which owns Amsterdam-based Nexperia.
Nexperia also owns a microchip plant in Manchester. The Competition and Mergers Authority (CMA) said it couldn't comment on whether it is considering investigating the acquisition on 海角视频 market domination grounds.
Nexperia has been asked if it cleared the deal with the CMA before acquiring the plant.
FAC chairman Tom Tugendhat said: “Our fiercest competitors, notably China, have a track record of using foreign investments to gain access to important technologies and information.
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“We’ve witnessed too many of our country’s brilliant tech firms disappear abroad with potentially significant economic and foreign policy implications.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove to examine the Newport Wafer Fab sale.
But Mr Tugendhat said “it should not take prime ministerial intervention to ensure we don’t lose another of our most innovative companies to China”.
The MPs said the takeover of the South Wales firm, which was acquired by Nexperia earlier this month for a reported £63 million, “represents the sale of one of the 海角视频’s prized assets to a strategic competitor, at a time when global chip shortages means that the products manufactured by NWF are of vital national importance."
They warned that failing to conduct a detailed assessment of the deal under the new National Security and Investment (NSI) Act would indicate that Mr Johnson’s administration “continues to hold an unrealistically optimistic understanding of the Chinese government’s intentions” and is prioritising “short-term commercial interests” over the 海角视频’s long-term security.
“We recommend that the 海角视频 Government calls in the acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia for review and imposes appropriate mitigating measures, as a matter of urgency,” the committee said.
The FAC report acknowledged that foreign investment is essential for the 海角视频 economy, but takeovers could result in “strategically vital companies” and intellectual property being lost overseas.
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“This transfer of assets threatens to make us reliant on others for assets and services that are critical to our capacity for independent action and global influence, as well as undermining the 海角视频 economy and our national security,” the FAC said.
“Our sovereignty should not be for sale.”
The MPs said that the NSI Act, passed in April, was a vital step towards protecting British businesses but “failure to implement it effectively would have catastrophic effects for our global influence and security”