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The
State Administration for Market Regulation's (SAMR) green light
brings the $4.5 billion dollar deal to a close after approval
from other countries including the United States.
Network gear maker Cisco first announced its intention to
acquire optical components manufacturer Acacia in 2019, looking
to capture more business from telecoms companies.
China's approval was the only remaining closing condition for
the deal, Cisco said in July last year..
SAMR on Tuesday said the Acacia acquisition can proceed provided
the companies continue to service existing contracts in China
and continue to supply customers in China "in accordance with
the principles of fairness, reasonableness and
non-discrimination".
One of China's top market regulators, SAMR has authority akin to
the European Commission to approve acquisitions involving
multinational corporations.
In the past, China has gone against decisions by other
regulators overseas.
In 2018 Qualcomm Inc's planned $44 billion takeover of Dutch
chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV collapsed after the regulator
stalled on issuing public approval.
That deal's dissolution came months after Singapore-based
chipmaker Broadcom withdrew its bid to purchase Qualcomm after a
warning from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration stated
that the deal would give China an upper hand in technology
development.
Last year, however, China approved two smaller acquisitions in
the increasingly politicised microchip industry - Infineon
Technologies' $10 billion purchase of U.S.-based Cypress
Semiconductor and U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's $6.9 billion deal for
Israel's Mellanox Inc.
Semiconductor machinery maker Applied Materials' planned
acquisition of Kokusai Electric remains subject to SAMR
approval, as does Nvidia's pending $40 billion purhase of
British chip designer Arm..
Accelerating a crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour in China's
booming internet space, SAMR recently launched an antitrust
probe into e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai and Lusha Zhang in
Beijing; Additional reporting by Yingzhi Yang in Beijing;
Editing by David Goodman)
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