UK's Largest Chip Plant To Be Acquired By Chinese-Owned Firm Nexperia (cnbc.com) 44
According to CNBC, the UK's largest chip producer, Newport Wafer Fab, is set to be acquired by Chinese-owned semiconductor company Nexperia for around $87 million next week. The deal comes shortly after the crown jewl of the UK tech industry, Arm, agreed to be acquired by US chip giant Nvidia for $40 billion. From the report: Located in Newport, South Wales, privately-held NWF's chip plant dates back to 1982 and it is one of just a handful of semiconductor fabricators in the U.K. Nexperia is set to announce the takeover as soon as Monday or Tuesday, the sources said. "We are in constructive conversations with NWF and Welsh Government about the future of NWF," a Nexperia spokesperson said. "Until we have reached a conclusion we cannot further comment." The deal comes during a global chip shortage that has led countries to try and become more independent when it comes to semiconductor production. The vast majority of today's chips are manufactured in Asia, with Taiwan's TSMC, South Korea's Samsung and China's SMIC among the largest chip producers in the world.
Tom Tugendhat, leader of the U.K. government's China Research Group and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said he was concerned about a potential takeover of NWF in a letter to U.K. Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng in June. "I must stress again that having the U.K.'s leading 200mm silicon and semiconductor technology development and processing facility being taken over by a Chinese entity -- in my view -- represents a significant economic and national security concern," Tugendhat said. He urged the U.K. government to review the deal under the National Security and Investment Act, which was introduced in April as part of an effort to protect the nation's technology companies from overseas takeovers when there's an economic risk or a security threat. "This is the largest last remaining advanced semiconductor factory in England being sold to the Chinese and the British government aren't doing s*** about it," a source said, adding that they should at least try and get $1 billion for it.
Tom Tugendhat, leader of the U.K. government's China Research Group and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said he was concerned about a potential takeover of NWF in a letter to U.K. Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng in June. "I must stress again that having the U.K.'s leading 200mm silicon and semiconductor technology development and processing facility being taken over by a Chinese entity -- in my view -- represents a significant economic and national security concern," Tugendhat said. He urged the U.K. government to review the deal under the National Security and Investment Act, which was introduced in April as part of an effort to protect the nation's technology companies from overseas takeovers when there's an economic risk or a security threat. "This is the largest last remaining advanced semiconductor factory in England being sold to the Chinese and the British government aren't doing s*** about it," a source said, adding that they should at least try and get $1 billion for it.
Selling the UFO. (Score:2)
Ah 200 mm ancient tech. That explains it.
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It's the plant, not patents, a production facility. Got work for it, make money, haven't got work for it lose big time, not competitive against foreign competition. So only works profitably as an internal unit of a larger tech manufacturing concern.
It is good for a country or economic block, to be able to manufacture their own tech, being totally reliant on imports, in the digital era, make no mistake, leaves you totally and utterly dependent on the supplier nation. Digital export sanctions against a count
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Ah 200 mm ancient tech. That explains it.
Indeed. 200 mm wafers with a 180 nm step size.
Maybe the Chinese are buying for a museum.
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It's for a foothold in the UK market. As others have pointed out, it's museum-grade tech, but there's bound to be some market-related advantage to it, boots on the ground or something similar.
That's one thing about companies in places like Asia (not just China, Japan does this too), they can see past the end-of-year stock price and CEO's payout and make strategic decisions: If we spend money here now it'll help us ten years down the road. And then companies who can't see more than one dividend report int
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Might also be automotive. Lots of old tech in cars, all proven reliable and certified, no need to change it.
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We call this 200mm chip plant... A potato ;-) Suckerzzzz
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There are many important chips that do not require neither benefit from high resolution processes. Not every chip is a CPU or RAM or Flash.
So what's the plan? (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone: "As the chip shortage continues, companies and governments look for solutions"
UK: Let's sell our largest/domestic chip plant to the Chinese.
https://www.techrepublic.com/a... [techrepublic.com]
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Everything in the UK is for sale. We have been selling it all off for years. No consideration of if it's a good idea, just cash in for a quick buck.
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How much for one queen?
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Very hard to say. There's is some evidence that she abuses royal privilege (she gets to review laws before they are put to parliament and regularly does, but her comments are not public and get influence is hard to measure). How much you have to pay to get in on the action is hard to say because most of the press won't touch it and she is the most protected woman in the UK.
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UK: Let's sell our largest/domestic chip plant to the Chinese.
It's all about being an international country. /s
0.2m (Score:2)
the U.K.'s leading 200mm silicon
The unit is obviously wrong, but what is the correct value? 200 nm would not be impressive nowadays, but I guess it still makes sense for a lot of electronics. 200 pm would be science fiction in 2021.
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200mm is the size of the wafer. And 200mm is correct.
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From the company site [newportwaferfab.co.uk]:
Our production capacity provides capability from 0.18um and above.
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200mm is the size of the wafer. And 200mm is correct.
The size of the wafer and the size of the process are not the same thing.
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0.18u is probably why it's only $87M. 0.18um was bleeding edge 20 years ago.
Modern facilities cost billions of dollars, and if it was in anyway modern it would be costing billions of dollars.
Though 200mm (20cm) wafers is somewhat limiting - modern fabs went to 300mm (30cm) wafers nearly 30 years ago.
Re: 0.2m (Score:4, Informative)
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https://www.newportwaferfab.co.uk/
It doesn't have to impress you. All it needs is some practical application.
Manufacturing industry has a need for power electronics, which go into all kinds of machines including cars. You don't make those power semiconductors with node sizes that are used in modern micro-electronics.
The UK are great at undervaluing their tech assets (Score:3)
I don't know if they're just too darned polite to ask for more money, or something.
"This is the largest last remaining advanced semiconductor factory in England being sold to the Chinese and the British government aren't doing s*** about it," a source said, adding that they should at least try and get $1 billion for it.
The last I heard, Wales wasn't in England ...
Re: The UK are great at undervaluing their tech as (Score:2)
Just look at what the U.K. did to their rocket industry as confirmation of lack of appreciation of the assets that have.
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Q: What UK rocket industry?
A: Exactly
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Everything gets sold off cheap here. It's usually some kind of scam where the politicians and their pals make money from it.
Self Awareness (Score:2)
"This is the largest last remaining advanced semiconductor factory in England being sold to the Chinese and the British government aren't doing s*** about it," a source said, adding that they should at least try and get $1 billion for it.
We know what you are. We're just haggling over the price.
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This is not worth $1 billion. GlobalFoundries sold a similar fab in 2019 for $236 million.
Don't Worry You Average Brit (Score:4, Insightful)
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Boris is just picking the bones after Thatcher ate everything else
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That's what we are afraid of.
If the Chinese buy a fish plant (Score:1)
Fingers crossed... (Score:2)
That the nvidia assholes are not allowed to buy ARM.
They dont have any good intentions as usual, with this.
They will simply kill the mobile market and the whole industry if allowed.
History repeats. (Score:2)
“The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”
Vladimir Ilich Lenin
UK is going to neeed ... (Score:3, Insightful)
... speaking mandarin as soon annexation to china will follow. Hong Kong seems just an prelude.
Just joking ... but anything you sell to a chinese company you sell to the chinese state and 'communist' party.
Worst than selling off ARM (Score:2)