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Comment by yousry | Hacker News Reader

Related News from last week:

The government had cleared the deal on Sept. 8 but Aixtron said that the Economy Ministry had now canceled the clearance certificate for Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP (FGC), a Chinese investment fund controlled by businessman Zhendong Liu, and planned to reopen a review of the takeover. The decision to rescind the approval was based on “previously unknown security-related information,” Germany’s Deputy Economy Minister Matthias Machnig told German daily newspaper Die Welt, without being more specific.

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Aixtron hasn't been doing too well lately. So there is definitely a positive side to an acquisition.

From Aixtron's website on November 17 [1]:

>CFIUS [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] informed the parties that it plans to recommend to the U.S. President that the transaction be prohibited based on CFIUS’ conclusion that there would be no reasonable way to mitigate the U.S. national security risks perceived by CFIUS on the basis of the mitigation proposals submitted by the parties to date.

> Both, GCI and AIXTRON have decided not to follow such recommendation as a result of which the matter has been referred to the U.S. President for decision in line with CFIUS statutes.

If I understand that correctly, Aixtron SE has investments in the USA and the CFIUS is now moving to block the acquisition because they think if GCI owns these investments that the national security is threatened.

Or am I misreading something?

[1] http://www.aixtron.com/en/press/press-releases/detail/aixtro...

I recall there being an article here a month or so ago about this actual takeover. Basically Aixtron had this large customer in China, but at the last moment, un-expectantly, they cancelled the order. Therefore Aixtron shares plummeted and then this investment fund comes in to buy them out. The article also found that there was a hidden connection between the customer and the investment fund and that both used state money.

So there is definitely something fishy going on, and China as a state is wielding its money to gain all of the technology for itself.

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