Nexperia’s Chinese owner accuses Dutch branch of plotting independent supply chain

Wingtech, the Chinese owner of chipmaker Nexperia, accused the Dutch branch of conspiring to establish a non-Chinese supply chain and of attempting to permanently strip the parent company of control. Wingtech also claimed that Nexperia Netherlands planned to expand production in Malaysia and other countries, moves the Chinese parent sees as an effort to replace Chinese capacity.

The allegations come as Wingtech filed an appeal Wednesday with the Supreme Court in The Hague against an October ruling by the Amsterdam Enterprise Chamber that suspended Nexperia’s Chinese CEO, Zhang Xuezheng, over suspected mismanagement. Wingtech said the judges’ decision was “incorrect” because the Dutch government had been involved and the company’s arguments were not considered.

Nexperia in Nijmegen strongly denied the accusations. A company spokesperson said the Enterprise Chamber’s suspension of Zhang followed reports from European directors who raised concerns about serious mismanagement.

“We are complying with that decision. What is essential, in the interest of our customers, is that we can engage in dialogue with the management team in China about concrete solutions for the production chain,” the spokesperson said.

Wingtech has also appealed a regulatory intervention by caretaker Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans (VVD). A day before the Enterprise Chamber’s ruling in late September, Karremans imposed restrictions to prevent Wingtech from removing activities and knowledge from Europe. Those restrictions were suspended earlier this month.

A spokeswoman for the Amsterdam Court of Appeal confirmed that Wingtech had filed the Supreme Court appeal, though a hearing date has not been set.