THE Chinese owners of a Scottish semiconductor firm has been ordered to sell its stake in the business due to “national security” concerns.
Future Technology Devices International Limited (FTDI) was established in 1992 with its headquarters in Glasgow.
In 2021, Chinese firm FTDI Holding Limited (FTDIHL) – run by an asset management firm ultimately owned by the Chinese state – gained control by increasing the percentage of shares held to more than 75%.
But now, the UK Government has imposed an order which means FTDIHL must sell all its shares according to The Times.
A report by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Wednesday found the acquisition to be a “trigger event” under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
The move was justified on the grounds that it would reduce the risk that “UK-developed semiconductor technology and associated intellectual property” could be “deployed in ways that are contrary to UK national security”.
It was also deemed that the ownership of FTDI poses a risk to critical national infrastructure which uses FTDI products.
It also comes after The Times revealed that microchips the Glasgow-based firm had sold to Russia were found in a tank destroyed in Ukraine.
