UK orders Chinese owners to sell majority stake in Scottish chip firm
Future Technology Devices International (FTDI), a semiconductor design business based in Glasgow, was acquired by a holding company with Chinese directors three years ago.
The British government has reportedly ordered a Chinese-owned holding company to sell its shares in a Scottish semiconductor business after a national security assessment.
Future Technology Devices International (FTDI), a semiconductor design business based in Glasgow, was acquired by a holding company with Chinese directors three years ago.
Future Technology Devices International Limited (FTDI) was established in 1992 as a fab-less semiconductor company, headquartered in Glasgow. In December 2021, China-registered FTDI Holding Limited (FTDIHL) gained control of the company by increasing the percentage of shares held to over 75%.
Under the UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021, the government can “scrutinise and intervene in business transactions, such as takeovers, to protect national security” in 17 sensitive areas of the economy.
The review has led to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to order this holding company to sell its 80.2% stake in FTDI “within a specified period and following a specified process,” according to a government notice.
The divestment was seen necessary to mitigate the national security risks of British-developed “semiconductor technology and associated intellectual property being deployed in ways that are contrary to UK national security,” according to a report in The Record.
The divestment would also prevent FTDI’s tech and intellectual property from “being used to pose a risk to critical national infrastructure which uses FTDI products.”
The company has R&D facilities in Glasgow and Singapore and regional sales and technical support sites in Oregon, USA and Shanghai.
