Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises U.S. Department of Commerce on CHIPS Act transactions

Global law firm Clifford Chance recently completed three transactions for the US Department of Commerce supporting the construction or modernization of domestic semiconductor facilities with funds provided under the CHIPS Act.

Senior Counsel David Evans led a team comprising principally of Violetta Kokolus, Peter Hughes, Edward Charlton-Jones, Lauran Smith, Susan Trepekli, Serena Seaman and Anna O'Neil on the following:

• Advising the CHIPS Program Office (CPO) on an award of up to US$7.865 billion in direct funding for commercial fabrication and packaging facilities of leading-edge chips that Intel Corp. is developing in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon. This was one of the largest awards made to date under the Act.
• Advising CPO on an award of up to US$3 billion in direct funding to Intel (separate from the above transaction) for construction and operation of facilities to ensure a domestic supply chain of advanced semiconductors for national security purposes.
  
  
• Advising CPO on an award up to US$35.5 million to BAE Systems Electronic Systems for the modernization of BAE's Microelectronics Center (MEC) in New Hampshire, a "Trusted Foundry" by the Department of Defense. The BAE MEC produces "Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit" chips critical for advanced military aircraft and commercial satellite systems.

Evans said, "The importance of developing domestic semiconductor capability has become both a national security and macroeconomic imperative, especially as driven by chips associated with Artificial Intelligence. Clifford Chance is fortunate to have worked with the Department of Commerce on its CHIPS Act Program and these important transactions."