Chinese firms buy up stricken Belgian chip firm's assets
Chinese companies did most of the buying at the bankruptcy auction of BelGaN, Belgium’s last industrial chip manufacturer.
The Oudenaarde-based GAN specialist went out of business late in 2024. The firm had launched in 2008 when ON Semiconductor acquired the Oudenaarde site and made semiconductor products for customers in the automotive, industrial and medical sectors.
In 2022, BelGaN bought the fab, and launched a strategy to switch to gallium nitride chips after a significant fall in revenue. But the migration failed to deliver and, after a number of offers, BehGaN's creditors failed to find a buyer.
The online auction, which began last November, raised an estimated EUR 23 million, according to the Brussels Times. Reports now say a third of the assets were snapped up by Chinese firms. Officials are said to be exploring which machinery can be exported without a licence to China, and which will require dispensation.
