Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to prohibit the planned takeover of a chip factory from the Dortmund-based company Elmos by a subsidiary of the state-affiliated Chinese IT group Sai Microelectronics. As announced on Tuesday from ministry circles, Habeck submitted a corresponding proposal to the federal cabinet. The reason given was that the minister was fundamentally critical of the sale of semiconductor and chip factories to foreign buyers. In this specific case, approval of the transaction would also have endangered public safety and order in Germany. Even approval subject to conditions would not have changed anything.
The federal cabinet still has to approve Habeck’s proposal. Unlike when the major Chinese shipping company Cosco entered a terminal in the Port of Hamburg a few weeks ago, the government apparently coordinated this internally this time. The talks about Elmos were “conducted constructively within the federal government,” it said in the circles. In the Cosco case, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) pushed through the deal against the resistance of all the ministries involved. However, the Chinese group can now only take over 24.9 percent of the shares in the terminal instead of 35 percent.
In addition to the protection of the constitution, the FDP had also raised concerns about the deal
The semiconductor manufacturer Elmos had agreed with the Swedish competitor Silex to hand over its chip production in the Ruhr area. However, Silex is 100 percent owned by the Sai Microelectronics group, which in turn is closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party. In addition to the protection of the constitution, the FDP had also registered concerns about the deal. “It is important to prevent Chinese influence on both critical infrastructure and key industries,” said Lukas Koehler, deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group. As of Tuesday, the cabinet will deal with the case this Wednesday and will in all likelihood make a final decision.