Nexperia’s acquisition of Nowi gets a security review

The Dutch government might prevent the takeover of Delft-based chip startup Nowi. Currently, there’s no legal basis for a probe, but as soon as parliament passes a new law, Minister of Economic Affairs Micky Adriaansens will launch one, she informed the Dutch House of Representatives (link in Dutch). This law will provide the legal framework for screening investments and acquisitions on grounds of national security and will be applicable retroactively.

Nowi develops a power management integrated chip (PMIC) that draws energy from ambient sources like light, vibrations, radio waves or temperature gradients to energize low-power applications like smart wearables, remote controls and wireless sensor nodes. Leveraging Nexperia’s manufacturing capabilities and global infrastructure, together the companies intended to ramp up the manufacturing of Nowi’s product. “Energy harvesting is the perfect complement to our existing power management capabilities,” said Dan Jensen, general manager Business Group Analog & Logic ICs at Nexperia.

It’s unclear whether the new law would allow a device intended for consumer applications to be considered a threat to national security.