Wingtech urges Nexperia to respond on control dispute as it appeals Dutch decision over ownership

The Dutch suspend their Nexperia intervention but but do not revoke the original Sep 30 ruling

[AMSTERDAM/BEIJING] Chinese semiconductor company Wingtech on Sunday (Nov 23) has escalated its dispute with the Dutch government and its chip unit Nexperia, warning that the subsidiary has “so far failed to provide any substantive response” to the parent’s proposals for communication.

Wingtech urged Nexperia to put forward a “constructive, sincere solution” to restore the company’s lawful control and full shareholder rights. The comments came a day after documents seen by Reuters showed Wingtech had appealed to the Dutch government to rescind its decision to take control of the Netherlands-based computer chipmaker.

Wingtech first challenged the intervention on Oct 21 and broadened its complaints on Nov 10, the documents showed.

In the appeal, its lawyers asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to revoke the order, calling it an unprecedented and disproportionate “deprivation of property” without legal basis.

The Dutch government on Wednesday suspended its intervention at Nexperia following what it described as constructive talks with China over a dispute that has contributed to chip shortages for carmakers.

But it did not revoke the original Sep 30 ruling, which it said had been needed to stop Nexperia’s former CEO from shifting European operations to China.

China’s commerce ministry said the Dutch move fell short of fully ending the intervention, as Beijing had demanded.

Both Wingtech and Beijing have also called on the Dutch government to withdraw from a separate court case alleging mismanagement at Nexperia.

Other documents seen by Reuters show Dutch Economy Minister Vincent Karremans urged a court shortly after the intervention to act quickly to prevent Nexperia assets from being transferred to China.

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In a letter to the court, state lawyers argued there was a significant risk Wingtech would not comply with the government’s measures.

The court in October ordered the removal of ex-Nexperia CEO and Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng for mismanagement. REUTERS

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