(Yicai Global) July 6 -- Shares of Wingtech Technology, China’s biggest smartphone assembler, reached at a four-month high today before closing lower after its Dutch subsidiary Nexperia bought the United Kingdom’s largest chipmaker.

Wingtech [SHA:600745] lost 1.5 percent to CNY99.40 (USD15.38), after gaining as much as 5.7 percent earlier in the day, while the broader Shanghai market ended flat. The stock gained 9.5 percent yesterday.

Nexperia has signed a deal to buy all of Newport Wafer Fab, it said in a statement late yesterday, without revealing the value of the deal. Media reports said it was worth about GBP63 million (USD87.4 million).

Owned by Neptune 6, NWF is one of the few chipmakers in the UK. It mainly produces silicon chips for use in the automotive industry. Nexperia was already a customer of the firm’s foundry services and had become its second-largest shareholder in 2019.

The deal does not need approval from Wingtech’s board or shareholders, the Zhejiang province-based company said yesterday, but some uncertainties remain as the deal has not yet been completed. The takeover will not have a big impact on Wingtech’s production and operations and the cost is relatively small considering NWF’s revenues and profits, it added.

Like other countries and regions, China has been hit by the global chip shortage since the end of last year, with the automobile and consumer electronics sectors bearing the brunt.

Editor: Futura Costaglione