UK orders Chinese-owned firm to sell most of chip maker

London: The UK government on Wednesday ordered a Chinese-owned company to divest most of Britain’s biggest semiconductor maker, in a move likely to antagonise Beijing.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps was blocking the full takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia following a “detailed national security assessment”, a government spokesperson said in a statement.

Shapps was requiring Nexperia to sell at least 86 percent of the Wales-based chip fabricator “to prevent against potential national security risks,” the spokesperson said.