The Dutch government has taken management control of Nexperia, the semiconductor company owned by Wingtech of China, following “serious governance shortcomings.”
The Dutch government said it was acting in the interest of national security and invoked a law called the Goods Availability Act.
The Goods Availability Act allows the Dutch government to intervene in private companies to ensure the availability of critical goods in preparation for emergency situations, and its use comes amid escalations in the U.S.-China trade war.
The government can now make decisions regarding the company’s management. The government said its actions had been prompted by recent disposals of assets and personnel changes affecting crucial technology.
Nexperia can continue regular production and the government can now block or reverse its decisions for up to a year.
The government pointed to “recent and acute signals of serious governance shortcomings” and said “these signals posed a threat to the continuity and safeguarding on Dutch and European soil of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities. Losing these capabilities could pose a risk to Dutch and European economic security.”
In 2o22, the UK government ordered Nexperia to sell Newport Wafer Fab.
