Chinese investors’ deal to buy Lattice Semiconductor came under attack Tuesday from 22 members of Congress, including one from Oregon. They want the U.S. Treasury Department to intervene and halt the $1.3 billion sale.
Lattice, Portland’s biggest tech company, makes chips that play a supporting role in a range of digital devices. Its field programmable gate array, or FPGA, is found in such products as communications networking gear, digital cameras and smartphones, Lattice, Portland’s biggest tech company, makes chips that play a supporting role in a range of digital devices. Its field programmable gate array, or FPGA, is found in such products as communications networking gear, digital cameras and smartphones, including the iPhone.
Tuesday’s letter condemned the sale to Canyon Bridge Capital Partners — an obscure California investment firm that says its funding comes from China — on the grounds that China’s growing, state-sponsored semiconductor industry poses a threat to national security.
“FPGA technologies are critical to American military applications, and the purchase of an American FPGA designer and manufacturer by a (Chinese)-affiliated firm could disrupt the military supply chain and possibly lead to a reliance on foreign-sourced technologies for many critical Defense Department programs,” the lawmakers wrote.
Signatories include members of both political parties, all of them serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. From Oregon’s congressional delegation, only Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio signed the letter.
Lattice shares dropped 3.4 percent Tuesday to close at $6.86, well below the $8.30 per-share price Canyon Bridge offered a month ago. That signals that investors are skeptical the deal will close.
Lattice had more than 1,100 workers worldwide at the start of 2016. After years of downsizing, it now has about 200 Oregon employees.
The Portland company Signatories include members of both political parties, all of them serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. From Oregon’s congressional delegation, only Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio signed the letter.
Lattice shares dropped 3.4 percent Tuesday to close at $6.86, well below the $8.30 per-share price Canyon Bridge offered a month ago. That signals that investors are skeptical the deal will close.
Lattice had more than 1,100 workers worldwide at the start of 2016. After years of downsizing, it now has about 200 Oregon employees.
The Portland company defended its deal with Canyon Bridge last week, noting that the firm intends to retain Lattice’s U.S. operations and asserting that the Oregon company hasn’t sold defense products in five years.
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