What to Expect of Chinese Merger Control Reviews of Global Semiconductor Deals Following Amendments to the Anti-Monopoly Law

The long list of semiconductor transactions around the globe in the past few years underlines China’s continuing role as one of the key jurisdictions for global semiconductor transactions and their clearance prospects under applicable merger control laws. On June 24, 2022, China’s top legislature formally published the amended Anti-Monopoly Law, with sweeping changes in force from August 2022. While it does not specifically target the semiconductor industry, it may impact the merger control review practices applicable to semiconductor deals, particularly considering that the semiconductor industry is one of the most heavily scrutinized sectors in China. This article assesses what global semiconductor players and investors should expect when pursuing a clearance in this new antitrust era in China.

By Hazel Yin, Haoyang Zhuo & Laurent Bougard^[1]

I. INTRODUCTION

The numerous semiconductor transactions around the globe in the past few years have included transformative multi-billion deals with potentially far-reaching impact on the global semiconductor landscape, as well as many smaller deals (some statistics indicate that 80 percent of semiconductor deals were valued below $1bn in the last five years).^[2]

Despite volatility in demand for semiconductor products and a projected modest decline in global semiconductor revenue in 2023,^[3] robust demand remains in a few segments, shifting from consumer electronics to emerging areas like the internet of things (â