Staff at UK Chip Firm Prefer Dutch/Chinese Owners – Times

Dutch officials have insisted that fresh controls address national security concerns rather than favour US chip-related companies. Photo: Reuters

Staff at the Newport Wafer Fab, a semiconductor firm in Wales whose takeover last year by a Chinese-backed company is being reviewed by the British government on national security grounds, have sent a “strongly worded letter” to The Times in London about the company’s future, with the 582 workers saying they “fully support Nexperia and its [Chinese] ownership of our site” because it had provided stability, improved job security, wages and working conditions, a report by The Times said.

Newport’s previous owner is among groups that have expressed interest in buying the business, but employees said in their letter “we have absolutely no desire to work under a consortium under the stewardship of Drew Nelson, the previous owner”, alleging that the company was “a mismanaged, undercapitalized startup, struggling to compete even in a buoyant market”, the report said, adding that the government is expected to make a final decision on the 63-million-pound takeover by Nexperia, a Dutch firm owned by China’s Wingnut Technology, by October 3.

See the full report: The Times.

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years and has a family in Bangkok.