Government’s Vishay Acquisition Approval Delay Causes Concern for Newport Wafer Fab

The Shadow Secretary of State for Wales has written a letter to the Secretary of State for Wales accusing the government of “dither and delay” and of “dragging its feet” in deciding whether the proposed takeover by Vishay can go ahead, reports the Guardian which has seen the letter.

Ever since 2021, when Newport Wafer Fab was about to be acquired by Nexperia which is controlled by a China government fund, the fab’s future has been in question.

Initially, both the US and UK governments raised security concerns over the acquisition. Then, in 2022, the government ordered that the fab should be sold to an acceptable owner.

In November 2023, a sale was announced to Vishay for $177 million.

In the letter, the Shadow Secretary of State expressed concern that the delay since November in the government giving approval has left the fab’s employees in “damaging limbo”.

The letter also highlighted that some redundancies have occurred while the government delayed its decision. Since the government first raised issues over the fab, approximately 100 out of 550 employees have either left or been made redundant.