Dutch chipmaker Nexperia claimed that Chinese owner Wingtech Technology Co. was pushing for technology transfers out of Europe and threatening executives in a highly charged court hearing Wednesday that laid bare how deep and personal a dispute over control has become.
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In its bid to regain shareholding rights, Wingtech pushed back by attacking Nexperia’s European management, claiming that the company was performing well before the court’s intervention. It refuted claims that Nexperia was being “emptied out” and said the developments raise major questions about its “unequal treatment” as a Chinese investor.
After ordering Wingtech’s shares to be put under control of independent trustees in October, the Amsterdam Enterprise Chamber is weighing whether to open an investigation into how the chipmaker was managed by Wingtech’s founder, Zhang Xuezheng, who was suspended as Nexperia’s chief executive officer by the court.
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Representatives for Wingtech and Zhang “are attempting to pressure the Nexperia organization, including through personal attacks and claims for damages,” Guido Dierick, a court-appointed director, said at the hearing on Wednesday, “They’ve made thinly veiled threats against the three Nexperia executives present, including me.”
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If a probe is opened, court-appointed officials may continue to be involved in controlling Nijmegen-based Nexperia, prolonging the dispute. If judges opt against an investigation, Wingtech would regain its authority over the company, effectively ending the standoff that has disrupted the auto industry in Europe and around the world.
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Nexperia’s lawyers alleged that Zhang initiated several “radical changes” to the operations that would have made the chipmaker “completely dependent” on China and his own company WingSkySemi. They argued that the Shanghai-based wafer manufacturer was heavily in debt and had too few customers, and Zhang saw Nexperia as a “lifeline.”
A risk-management project presented by Wingtech — dubbed Project Rainbow — became “cover and justification” for moving production and systems to China. For example, design data had to be copied from U.S. to Chinese servers and suppliers were to be replaced by Chinese counterparts, according to Nexperia’s lawyers.
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The Dutch company said it had seen signals that Nexperia China is “becoming independent and setting up its own supply chain,” according to documents submitted to the court. It alleged that half of the firm’s existing stock was sold to the Chinese automaker BYD, despite obligations toward other customers.
“Wingtech is doing everything it can to destabilize Nexperia in this already challenging situation,” lawyers representing the Dutch company said. “Together with the local Chinese management, it is effectively holding Nexperia’s Chinese subsidiaries hostage.”
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