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[To Eurosmart members only]
Vice-President of European Parliament concerned about foreign acquisition of European semiconductor companies
MEP Othmar Karas (Austria, EPP), Vice President of the European Parliament, expressed concerns regarding the acquisition of European semiconductor firms by non-European companies. He sent a written question to the European Commission mentioning the acquisitions of:
-German Silitronic by Taiwanese GlobalWafers
-UK firm Arm by US firm Nvidia
-UK firm Dialog Semiconductor PLC by Japanese Renesas Electronics
Othmar Karas asked what the Commission’s assessment of these acquisitions was in terms of competition and critical technologies.
The European Commission answered that the acquisition of Silitronic by GlobalWafers has been authorised by the German and Austrian competition authorities at the beginning of this year. The turnover thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation were not met; hence it did not apply to this case. The German competition authority indicated that customers of silicon wafers would still have sufficient alternative suppliers after the merger.
The European Commission also added that there is currently an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on microelectronics. Member States are pooling resources to support this sector. In addition, the European Commission launched a new Industrial Alliance for Processors and Semiconductor technologies last July.
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