Your money’s not wanted HERE: Chinese-led bid for stake in high-res map maker rejected by US
Tencent, NavInfo, GIC syndicate forced to pull its bid for 10 per cent of HERE Technologies, which makes maps that enable autonomous driving
A syndicate including Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings has been forced to ditch its plan to buy a stake in a developer of high-resolution maps for driverless cars after failing to gain approval from authorities in the US.
The partnership between Tencent, Chinese mapping company NavInfo and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has withdrawn its bid for a 10 per cent stake in HERE Technologies, the latest China-linked investment to be rejected under President Donald Trump.
Shenzhen-listed NavInfo said in a statement on Wednesday that it spent months after the proposed deal was announced in December seeking approval from the US Committee on Foreign Investment.
Even though HERE is a European company headquartered in the Netherlands, approval was required from the US because it has assets in Chicago.
The investment group had decided to pull the offer after American regulators withheld approval, said Beijing-based Navinfo, which already has a joint venture in China with HERE. The statement did not specify why the US committee rejected the bid.
The collapse of the deal came just two weeks after President Trump blocked a Chinese-backed investor from buying Lattice Semiconductor Corp on national security grounds.
