$5 billion Intel deal scrapped after China dragged out regulatory approval
$5 billion Intel deal scrapped after China dragged out regulatory approval
The relationship between the U.S. and China is not, shall we say, easy. And tensions between the two countries might be why China has thwarted some growth in America’s tech sector.
Intel recently scrapped a $5 billion deal to buy an Israeli semiconductor manufacturer, primarily because China dragged its feet on giving the regulatory green light for the deal. Some analysts think this could be Beijing retaliating against the U.S. for limiting certain tech exports to China.
Stacy Rasgon, a senior analyst at Bernstein research, said Intel’s semiconductor operations are global and multifaceted.
“They make chips for PCs, personal computers, you know that the processor that’s in the PC, that’s probably in front of you today,” he said.
And Intel wants to expand. Rasgon said Intel tried to buy the Israeli company Tower Semiconductor, but since semiconductors are a global industry, these kinds of business deals have to get regulatory approval from multiple countries.
“You typically need approval from many jurisdictions globally, the U.S. and Europe and the UK in other places, and particularly China,” he said.
In a press release, Intel said it didn’t get the necessary approvals before the deal expired.
Now, Chinese officials didn’t reject Intel’s acquisition outright, Rasgon said. “They’ve just been sitting on it.”
And sitting on it and sitting on it, until eventually, the deal died.
“You only need to fail to get approval in one market. And then it can kind of put the kibosh on the whole acquisition,” said Willy Shih, a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School.
He said in the past, these kinds of deals were usually rubber stamped with no problem.
“Governments were more friendly to those things,” Shih said.
But with complicated geopolitics in the mix these days, he said it’s harder. And the relationship between the U.S. and China — especially around high tech and trade — is volatile. For starters, the U.S. has restricted China’s access to semiconductors for national security reasons.
China wants to respond, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“But they’ve really struggled to find a good tool and a good way to do it,” he said.
Chorzempa pointed out that China has generally approved most international deals with no issue. Going forward, though, this may be the kind of leverage the country is looking for.
“If they want to flex their muscles, they can really make it difficult for transacting parties,” he said.
And Chorzempa expects to see China use this kind road block even more going forward.
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