Asian Tech Press (Nov 10) -- The German government has blocked a Chinese-owned company from acquiring Elmos' automotive chip plant.

German chipmaker Elmos Semiconductor SE said that the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) decided on Wednesday to ban the sale of Elmos' assets related to its automotive chip production line in Dortmund to Swedish company Silex Microsystems AB.

Silex's Chinese parent company Sai Micro Electronics Inc. issued a statement earlier Thursday confirming that they will not be able to proceed and complete the acquisition deal that should have been nearing its conclusion.

The Chinese group said, "The parties to the transaction will analyze the BMWK's decision document in detail and decide on further actions."

Sweden's Silex submitted a foreign direct investment application for the €84.5 million deal to the BMWK in January 2022. An intense review lasted for approximately 10 months before the Germany regulator issued the ban.

Two days ago, Elmos released a statement saying that the German government is likely to block the sale of its chip plant to Silex.