Caretaker minister Karremans feared that Nexperia would not comply with the intervention he imposed on the chip company at the beginning of October. He therefore urged the Enterprise Chamber to expedite its proceedings concerning the company. Earlier, the minister had claimed that the two procedures were unrelated.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans effectively took control of the Nijmegen-based Nexperia last month.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans effectively took control of the Nijmegen-based Nexperia last month. Photo: Koen van Weel/ANP
In brief
• Minister Karremans pressed the Enterprise Chamber for a swift ruling on chip maker Nexperia.
• A rapid decision was needed because the minister feared the company would not comply with his intervention.
• Karremans had previously said that the case before the Enterprise Chamber was separate from his intervention.
Caretaker minister Vincent Karremans needed the Enterprise Chamber in order to intervene successfully at Nexperia. This emerges from a letter by the state attorney, obtained by the FD. One day before the corporate court was due to hear the case, the minister had already taken de facto control of the Nijmegen chip company.
Karremans had earlier stated that his intervention was unrelated to the legal proceedings concerning Nexperia at the Enterprise Chamber. However, the letter from state attorney Pels Rijcken, sent on behalf of the minister, paints a different picture. The letter, dated 1 October, was addressed to the Enterprise Chamber and sent shortly before the court that same day removed Nexperia’s Chinese CEO from his position over mismanagement.
“Given the recent course of events within Nexperia et al., which partly forms the basis of the order, it is far from certain that the order will be complied with,” Pels Rijcken wrote on 1 October on the minister’s behalf to the Amsterdam judges. “Swift action by the Enterprise Chamber can prevent this,” the state attorney urged the corporate court.
Karremans’s order
The day before the letter reached the court, Karremans had issued an order barring Nexperia from funnelling strategic goods abroad. He invoked a 1952 Act which had never been used before.
In a later letter to the House of Representatives, Karremans stressed that the Enterprise Chamber had reached its judgement “independently of his order and autonomously.” He also told the FD on 17 October: “I did not know that Nexperia’s directors were going to the Court.”
The case, which aimed to sideline Chinese CEO Zhang Xuezheng – “Mr Wing” – was exceptional because the Enterprise Chamber reached a decision without hearing both sides. This is rarely, if ever, seen and sparked considerable debate among legal experts. “Such a decision rubs up against the fundamental right to be heard,” corporate lawyer Onno Hennis of AMS Advocaten wrote in a blog post. The ruling shows that, among other factors, the urgency of the matter prompted the court to use this extraordinary procedure.
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Caretaker minister Karremans feared that Nexperia would not comply with the intervention he imposed on the chip company at the beginning of October. He therefore urged the Enterprise Chamber to expedite its proceedings concerning the company. Earlier, the minister had claimed that the two procedures were unrelated.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans effectively took control of the Nijmegen-based Nexperia last month.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans effectively took control of the Nijmegen-based Nexperia last month. Photo: Koen van Weel/ANP
In brief
• Minister Karremans pressed the Enterprise Chamber for a swift ruling on chip maker Nexperia.
• A rapid decision was needed because the minister feared the company would not comply with his intervention.
• Karremans had previously said that the case before the Enterprise Chamber was separate from his intervention.
Caretaker minister Vincent Karremans needed the Enterprise Chamber in order to intervene successfully at Nexperia. This emerges from a letter by the state attorney, obtained by the FD. One day before the corporate court was due to hear the case, the minister had already taken de facto control of the Nijmegen chip company.
Karremans had earlier stated that his intervention was unrelated to the legal proceedings concerning Nexperia at the Enterprise Chamber. However, the letter from state attorney Pels Rijcken, sent on behalf of the minister, paints a different picture. The letter, dated 1 October, was addressed to the Enterprise Chamber and sent shortly before the court that same day removed Nexperia’s Chinese CEO from his position over mismanagement.
“Given the recent course of events within Nexperia et al., which partly forms the basis of the order, it is far from certain that the order will be complied with,” Pels Rijcken wrote on 1 October on the minister’s behalf to the Amsterdam judges. “Swift action by the Enterprise Chamber can prevent this,” the state attorney urged the corporate court.
Karremans’s order
The day before the letter reached the court, Karremans had issued an order barring Nexperia from funnelling strategic goods abroad. He invoked a 1952 Act which had never been used before.
In a later letter to the House of Representatives, Karremans stressed that the Enterprise Chamber had reached its judgement “independently of his order and autonomously.” He also told the FD on 17 October: “I did not know that Nexperia’s directors were going to the Court.”
The case, which aimed to sideline Chinese CEO Zhang Xuezheng – “Mr Wing” – was exceptional because the Enterprise Chamber reached a decision without hearing both sides. This is rarely, if ever, seen and sparked considerable debate among legal experts. “Such a decision rubs up against the fundamental right to be heard,” corporate lawyer Onno Hennis of AMS Advocaten wrote in a blog post. The ruling shows that, among other factors, the urgency of the matter prompted the court to use this extraordinary procedure.