Former Imagination Technologies CEO Alleges Chinese Investors Offered Bribe to Move Company to China
In a startling revelation, Ron Black, the former CEO of British microchip designer Imagination Technologies, has claimed that Chinese investors seemingly offered him what "felt like a bribe" to relocate the company’s operations to China. Black’s allegations emerged during an employment tribunal case, where he disclosed that he was promised substantial financial gains if he agreed to transfer Imagination’s technology and workforce out of the United Kingdom.
Black resigned from his position in 2020 amid a fraught attempt by China Reform, a state-owned investment entity and Imagination’s primary financial backer, to assume control of the company’s board. He is currently suing Imagination Technologies for $257 million (£203 million), alleging unfair dismissal and asserting he was ousted for whistleblowing.
The company charges that Black was removed due to his orchestration of an executive coup, stemming from a strategic disagreement.
Imagination Technologies, renowned for designing processors integral to smartphones, automotive systems, and smart devices, was acquired by private equity firm Canyon Bridge, which is backed by China Reform, in 2018.
Black recounted that shortly after his appointment in late 2018, he was summoned to a clandestine meeting with China Reform representatives at a Beijing tea house in March 2019. During the meeting, Lining Wang, a senior executive at the investment firm, purportedly encouraged Black to relocate the company’s operations to China, bypassing the intermediary role of Canyon Bridge and liaising directly with the state-owned investors.
In a detailed witness statement, Black reflected on the encounter. "He told me privately that I (meaning Imagination) should stop working through Canyon Bridge and report directly to China Reform, and begin to transfer Imagination’s technology to China, using the company’s British engineers to train new Chinese engineers, and then to lay off the British engineers to reduce cost," Black stated. "He added that I would ‘make a lot of money’ if I agreed to do these things."
"He was asking me to facilitate a wholesale transfer of Imagination’s IP and ultimately its business to Chinese entities," Black elaborated. He reported the conversation to Ray Bingham, Canyon Bridge’s lead partner and Imagination’s chairman, indicating that Wang’s suggestion of financial gain felt tantamount to a bribe.
"If the Chinese state could control Imagination’s business strategy and agenda it would enable them to make technology transfers," Black wrote. "That in turn would mean all the sensitive technologies … would be in the hands of the Chinese government."
These revelations bring to light the intricate and often covert machinations in the technology sector, highlighting the delicate balance between corporate governance and national interests.
Source: [Original Website]
