On 2/1, President Donald Trump ordered the blocking of an asset acquisition between two U.S. companies, HieFo and Emcore. Optoelectronics company HieFo had completed the purchase of Emcore's chip business and indium-phosphide semiconductor wafer manufacturing operations for 2,92 million USD in 2024.
Emcore, an aerospace and defense company headquartered in New Jersey, was the target of the acquisition. The White House order identified HieFo as "controlled by a Chinese citizen", leading the president to believe the deal could "take actions threatening U.S. national security".
The presidential order did not specify the individual's name or detail President Trump's concerns. "This transaction is prohibited", he stated. The President further directed HieFo to "divest all interests and ownership rights in Emcore's assets, wherever they may be", within 180 days.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had previously identified a national security risk during its investigation into the transaction. However, the U.S. Department of the Treasury did not specify the nature of this risk.
HieFo and Emcore have yet to comment on the order. Public information indicates HieFo was co-founded by Genzao Zhang, former Vice President of Engineering at Emcore, and Harry Moore, former Senior Sales Director at Emcore.
Phien An (according to *Reuters*)
