US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns.
In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”
The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns.
Photo: Reuters
“The Transaction is hereby prohibited,” Trump said, ordering HieFo to “divest all interests and rights in the Emcore Assets, wherever located,” within 180 days.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) identified a national security risk in its investigation of the deal, the US Department of the Treasury said after Trump’s order.
The statement did not specify the national security risk.
“CFIUS identified a national security risk arising from the transaction relating to potential access to Emcore’s intellectual property, proprietary know-how, and expertise and to the potential diversion of supply of indium phosphide chips manufactured by the Emcore Digital Chips Business away from the United States,” the treasury department said in a statement.
Emcore, publicly traded at the time of the deal and later taken private, said HieFo bought its chips business and indium-phosphide wafer-fabrication operations for US$2.92 million.
HieFo at the time said it was cofounded by Zhang Genzao (張根造), a former Emcore vice president of engineering, and Harry Moore, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as a former senior sales director at Emcore.
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