Chinese motor control chipmaker Fortior plans to acquire Eindhoven-headquartered sensor chip designer Sciosense in a transaction worth up to 118 million dollars. Sciosense is currently owned by Chinese investment firm Wise Road Capital and Austria’s AMS Osram, with stakes of 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively.
Sciosense was established in 2019 when AMS and Wise Road Capital created a joint venture around the Austrian company’s environmental, flow and pressure sensor business. Its technology portfolio brought together earlier acquisitions, including Appliedsensor and Acam-messelectronic in 2014, NXP’s advanced CMOS sensor business in 2015 and Cambridge CMOS Sensors in 2016.
Although control over Sciosense has been Chinese for years, the acquisition comes at an awkward time in Dutch-Chinese relations, which have only recently begun to thaw following the dispute over Nijmegen-based chipmaker Nexperia. More broadly, the EU wants to reduce its growing trade deficit with China and protect strategic industries by screening foreign direct investments.
