Lattice Semiconductor

The American company Lattice Semiconductor specializes in development of so-called programmable gate arrays (FPGA) — chips which the user can configure and adapt after their production. These chips are used in automobile electronics, smartphones and other devices. 

2017: Trump's prohibition on sale to the company to Chinese

In September, 2017 it became known of imposed by the American president Donald Trump you will lock for Lattice sale to the Chinese public investment fund Canyon Bridge Capital Partners. These the solution Washington made it clear to Beijing the position on counteraction to the absorption from China affecting developers of military technologies.

Canyon Bridge Capital Partners was going to purchase Lattice for $1.3 billion, and this transaction could become one of the largest when the Chinese company tries to rush into the American semiconductor industry.

Trump prohibited to sell the American chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor to Chinese for $1.3 billion

The American regulators began to worry in November, 2016 when the Reuters agency announced partial financing of the transaction by the Chinese government and communications of acquisition with the space program of Celestial Empire. At the same time, as reported in Lattice, the company does not sell chips to the American military, unlike main competitors any more — Xilinx and Intel.

Donald Trump signed the order according to which Lattice and Canyon Bridge Capital Partners is given month on agreement cancelation. According to the president, risks for national security of the USA in case of sale of the chipmaker are connected with "a possibility of object passing of intellectual property to foreign buyers", in this case to the government of China.

Canyon Bridge and Lattice provided documents according to the transaction for consideration to Committee on the foreign investments of the USA (CFIUS) three times, and the regulator steadily refused.^[1]

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