Nexperia will continue to operate independently after Dutch government takeover
Nexperia’s China unit claims to be operating independently after the Dutch government took over management of the company’s chip division. Chinese executives have instructed employees to ignore “external instructions.”
Last week, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act to take over management of semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia because of “serious governance shortcomings and actions.”
“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,” Vincent Karremans, Secretary of Economic Affairs, said in a press release.
According to court documents, CEO Zhang Xuezheng may have been engaged in a conflict of interest and tried to dismiss three critical, non-Chinese board members.
Wingtech, the owner of Nexperia, accused the Dutch government of staging a coup.
“The Dutch government’s decision to freeze Nexperia’s global operations under the pretext of ‘national security’ constitutes excessive intervention driven by geopolitical bias, rather than a fact-based risk assessment. This action seriously contravenes the European Union’s long-standing commitment to market economy principles, fair competition, and international trade norms. We express our strong protest against such discriminatory treatment targeting Chinese-funded enterprises,” Wingtech publicly stated.
A few days after the takeover by the Dutch government, China announced export restrictions on chips made in China by Nexperia.
Last weekend, Nexperia’s China unit posted a message on its official WeChat account, stating that all of its employees may reject “external instructions” not approved by its Chinese legal representative. Furthermore, the tech company said that salaries and bonuses will continue to be paid by Nexperia China, not Nexperia Netherlands.
In a response to Reuters, Nexperia says it’s aware of a statement from its Chinese unit that “falsely” claims the company has left the Chinese market and that the factory is now operating under a new entity. In addition, a company spokesperson claims that salaries are still being paid to Chinese employees from the Netherlands.