UK chip maker Newport Wafer Fab now Chinese-owned thanks to Wise Road Capital, a little-known venture capital fund

A five-year-old Chinese private equity fund is emerging as a front runner in acquiring semiconductor operations across Asia and Europe, and in some cases relocating the assets to China in line with Beijing’s desire for greater self-sufficiency in chips.

Wise Road Capital appeared on the radar in 2017 when it joined sister fund JAC Capital to acquire NXP Semiconductors’ standard products business for US$2.75 billion, renaming the unit Nexperia.

In June last year, Wise Road sold its equity stake in Nexperia to Wingtech Technology, a deal hailed by China’s official Xinhua news agency as one that “not only created China’s largest integrated device manufacturer in chips, but also generated high returns to investors”.

Now Nexperia is buying Newport Wafer Fab, the largest chip foundry in Britain, according to a stock filing by Wingtech on Tuesday. Nexperia, already the second-largest shareholder of Newport Wafer, will own 100 per cent after the deal.

Separately, Wise Road generated headlines in South Korea after it tried to buy MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp, a spin-off from Hynix Semiconductor. Although Beijing quickly granted approval for Wise Road to go ahead, the deal is now under review by Seoul after the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issued an interim order blocking the US$1.4 billion deal.

Gary Ng, Asia Pacific economist at investment bank Natixis, said it was almost impossible for foreign regulators to adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach to distinguish whether a Chinese fund is commercially or politically driven.