China delays approval of $35 billion merger between Synopsys and Ansys, FT reports

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(Reuters) -China’s market regulator has postponed its approval of a proposed $35 billion merger between software companies Synopsys and Ansys after Donald Trump tightened chip export controls against China, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The U.S. and China reached a tentative trade truce at talks in London this week after a previous agreement faltered over China’s curbs on mineral exports.

That prompted the Trump administration to apply additional export controls on shipments of semiconductor design software, jet engines for Chinese-made planes and other goods.

The transaction between the U.S. groups had already entered the last stage of the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation’s approval process and was expected to be completed by the end of this month, the FT report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Washington’s move to ban chip design software sales by U.S. companies, including Synopsys, to China in late May contributed to the delay, the newspaper said.

Reuters couldn’t immediately verify the report. Synopsys declined to comment on the report. Ansys and the Chinese regulator didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The United States has ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked licenses already granted to certain suppliers, Reuters reported last month.

Last month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it would require Synopsys and Ansys to divest certain assets to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding their merger.

Synopsys CEO has said the company has regulatory clearances for the merger in all jurisdictions excluding China.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)