[11][12] Kwasi Kwarteng, then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, deemed the sale insignificant to national security at the time of the acquisition.

[15] On 8 July 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a security review would be launched, overriding Kwarteng's initial assessment.

[26][27] Nexperia's UK manager said they rescued an investment-starved company from collapse, [...] repaid taxpayer loans, secured jobs, wages, bonuses and pensions, and agreed to spend more than £80 million on equipment upgrades since early 2021".

[2] The company said the decision was "legally wrong and disproportionate" in light of changes it had made to address the government's concerns, including a promise not to produce more sophisticated compound semiconductors.

[28] In December 2022, it was announced Nexperia had engaged New York law firm, Akin Gump to act on their behalf in their application for a judicial review of the UK government’s decision.

[31][32] In March 2024, the UK government approved the acquisition of the Newport wafer fab, as announced by Secretary of State Oliver Dowden.

[38] The technical requirements were that it would house controlled conditions for the production of electronic microchips, a service area for various offices and a staff canteen, all under one roof.

The 8,900 square metres (96,000 sq ft) single-storey building was designed to be fabricated off-site, and assembled on the Newport site.