Taiwanese giant cleared to buy major Sheffield manufacturing firm after 'national security' risk assessment
A Taiwanese industrial giant has been given the go-ahead to buy a major Sheffield manufacturing firm following a ‘national security’ assessment.
A Government review was carried out into the planned acquisition of Advanced Manufacturing (Sheffield) by Walsin Liwha Europe, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based Walsin Lihwa.
The Government said that Walsin Europe will gain control of the ‘qualifying entity’ by acquiring 38.8 per cent of the shareholding in Advanced Manufacturing (Sheffield), also known as AML.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Leicester has approved the acquisition, subject to a number of conditions, following what it described as a ‘detailed’ national security assessment.
Those conditions include restrictions on the location of AML’s ‘precision engineering capabilities’, with an order to keep certain operations in the UK; and requirements relating to IT equipment, data storage, access and handling.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said the conditions were sufficient to ‘mitigate the risks to national security’ posed by the proposed takeover.
It said those potential risks included the security of UK intellectual property relating to the precision engineering of gas turbine engine components, ‘access to which could lead to an uplift in adversaries’ capabilities’, and an interruption to the continuity of supply of precision-machining capabilities to United Kingdom defence programmes.
The notice of the ‘final order’ regarding the planned acquisition was published on Thursday, March 6.
AML, which is actually based just over the border from Sheffield, in Catcliffe, Rotherham, describes itself as an advanced manufacturing supplier with particular expertise in aerospace, defence and energy components.
According to the latest accounts listed on the Companies House website, it had 82 employees as of 2023.