Nexperia ordered to lower Newport Wafer Fab stake by 86%

Chinese tech giant Nexperia has been ordered to dispose of its majority stake in British silicon chip manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab as part of an effort to "mitigate the risk to national security".

Downing Street has told Nexperia that it must reduce its stake in Newport Wafer Fab by 86%, cutting back to its previous holding of just 14%.

Nexperia stated that it failed to understand the government's rationale behind the decision and warned that it has put as many as 500 jobs at risk.

"The far-reaching remedies which Nexperia offered to fully address the government's concerns have been entirely ignored," said Nexperia. "The UK government chose not to enter into a meaningful dialogue with Nexperia or even visit the Newport site."

"More than 500 employees in Newport also raised their own significant concerns about such a divestment - the government has chosen not to listen to them and instead taken this decision which puts the livelihoods of them and their families, as well as more than £100.0m of taxpayers' money, completely unnecessarily at risk."

Nexperia stated it will challenge Westminster's decision in order to keep both the factory and jobs.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com