Nexperia is headquartered in Nijmegen, in the northeast of the Netherlands, and has been controlled by Wingtech since 2019. Recently there have been “signals” of “serious administrative shortcomings” at Nexperia, the Dutch government said Sunday.
These shortcomings could “threaten the continuity and safeguarding of crucial technological knowledge and capacity on Dutch and European soil,” the government said, confirming it took the decision to intervene in company operations Sept. 30.
While it didn’t outline the shortcomings in detail, the government cited concerns over Nexperia’s future as a Dutch and European-based company — hinting at possible fears of tech leakage, meaning property and know-how are transferred to China.
Regions are increasingly seeking to bring production of chips — an important geopolitical asset — to their home shores. Nexperia is a vital chip supplier for Europe’s car industry.
The order is meant to safeguard the availability of Nexperia’s products in an emergency situation, and doesn’t affect regular proceedings, according to the government.
Wingtech slammed the Dutch intervention in a statement quoted by the Financial Times as “an act of excessive interference driven by geopolitical bias, not by fact-based risk assessment,” and said it had appealed to the Chinese government for assistance.