Lawmaker wants UK to stop China taking control of Imagination Technologies
- David Davis said the Chinese are trying to export the technology base from Britain to China
- The British firm is a supplier of semiconductor intellectual property to groups like Apple
The British government should seek every mechanism to prevent the removal of the technology base of Imagination Technologies to China, including seeking a Western buyer for the company, British lawmaker David Davis said on Tuesday.
The company’s China-backed owners – private equity firm Canyon Bridge – have tried to wrest control of the group by seeking to appoint board members who will support them, Davis said.
A board meeting, due to take place on Tuesday, was delayed after the British government intervened, the government said. Ron Black stepped down as CEO, the company said.
A spokesman for Imagination Technologies declined to comment.
Davis said Imagination Technologies, a supplier of semiconductor intellectual property to groups like Apple, was a strategic asset and that the government should make it absolutely plain that it does not view the export of such important British technology with equanimity.
“It should probably try to bring about a purchase of it by somebody else in a Western country,” Davis said. “The government should be seeking every mechanism available to them to prevent this removal of our technology – full stop.”
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Canyon Bridge was originally incorporated in the US but has since moved to the Cayman Islands, a spokesman said.
Canyon Bridge’s main investor is the state-backed China Reform Holdings.
Imagination Technologies, which has 550 staff in Britain, said on April 10 its chief executive Ron Black was stepping down and would be replaced by Ray Bingham, executive chairman and partner at Canyon Bridge.
“Since acquiring Imagination Technologies in 2017, we’ve made great progress in transforming the company and we remain fully committed to the UK and to supporting our customers around the world,” Bingham said in an April 10 statement.
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