Paul Mozur and Jack Ewing, Rush of Chinese Investment in Europe’s High-Tech Companies Is Raising Eyebrows; Questions about acquisitive companies and Beijing's long-term plan. New York Times, Sept 17, 2016.
Quote:
(a) "A university spinoff, it [Aixtron] employs hundreds of highly skilled engineers and has a decades-long history of making the advanced tools needed to make semiconductors. Its systems can deposit layers of chemicals just atoms thick that grow the crystals needed to make chips and light-emitting diodes.
"It was facing a broad slowdown in demand in 2015 when San'an Optoelectronics 三安光电公司, based in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen, canceled a large order at the last minute.
"The decision sent Aixtron's share price crashing. By May of this year, it had agreed to sell itself to a Chinese investment fund, Fujian Grand Chip 福建宏芯投资基金.
"Yet in a twist that shows the conflicting interests that can lurk behind Chinese deals, San'an has a number of connections to Fujian Grand Chip, including a common investor and an existing financial relationship.
"Fujian Grand Chip is 51 percent controlled by Liu Zhendong 刘振东, a businessman the Mercator Institute said most likely had government connections but was otherwise hard to track. The rest is held by Xiamen Bohao 厦门博灏投资有限公司, a local government investment fund that itself has links to San'an.
(b) "Beyond politics, concerns also surround the origin of the money supporting Chinese bids. * * *
"Ultimately both San'an, the customer, and Fujian Grand Chip, the buyer, are recipients of government funds earmarked to help China build out its semiconductor capabilities. While it's not clear whether the two coordinated in any way, they are a product of a new approach Beijing has taken to develop its semiconductor industry.
Note:
(a)
(i) Founded in 1983, Aixtron is based in Herzogenrath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzogenrath
(ii) Press releases: Pioneers of Semiconductor Technology: AIXTRON Celebrates its 30th Anniversary. Aixtron, Dec 5, 2013 www.aixtron.com/en/press/press-r ... jaehriges-bestehen/
("What started as a spin-off at RWTH Aachen University is now a publicly listed provider of deposition systems that has played a key role in shaping microelectronic and optoelectronic production technologies")