Emcore sold its computer chips and wafer fabrication operations to HieFo for $2.92 million, including the assumption of about $1 million in liabilities, in a deal that was announced during President Joe Biden’s administration in May 2024, according to the Associated Press. On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered the deal’s undoing, saying he concluded it threatened U.S. security interests if HieFo remained in control of the technology.
The executive order gives HieFo 180 days to divest the technology, the Associated Press reported. Trump cast the action as a national-security measure, saying he had “credible evidence” that the current owner is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. The order’s directive focused on ownership and control of the semiconductor-related technology acquired from Emcore.
The Associated Press said the administration’s action brought renewed attention to a semiconductor transaction that had “drawn scant attention” when it was made public in 2024. The deal, Emcore’s technology transfer, and the money involved were detailed in the reporting, including the purchase price and the liabilities assumed by HieFo at closing.
After the deal was completed, a press release described the operational setup that would follow, with plans for the technology acquired from Emcore overseen by largely the same team of employees in Alhambra, California. The Associated Press also reported that HieFo’s leadership included Dr. Genzao Zhang, who had been a vice president of engineering at Emcore before becoming HieFo’s chief executive, and Harry Moore.
The Associated Press reported that Zhang pledged after the closing to “continue the pursuit of the most innovative and disruptive solutions” and said the technology would be designed for purposes that would include artificial intelligence. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s order, the Associated Press said.
Emcore was publicly traded at the time of the HieFo transaction but was taken private last year by the investment firm Charlesbank Capital Partner, according to the Associated Press account. The latest order adds another layer of scrutiny to corporate deals involving advanced technology that can intersect with U.S. defense and intelligence interests.