Western Digital Clock Reset Shows Hurdles for Tsinghua Sale

  • Tsinghua deal refiled with national security review panel
  • CFIUS likely to decide whether it has jurisdiction next month
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Western Digital Corp. has reset the clock for U.S. officials to review the hard-drive maker’s plan to sell a 15 percent stake to Tsinghua Unisplendour Corp., the latest indication that Chinese investors in American technology face a challenging path in winning national security approval.

Western Digital this month refiled its notice with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. about its $3.8 billion deal with Tsinghua, the company said in a regulatory filing dated Jan. 26. The sale would make Tsinghua, a business unit of China’s Tsinghua University, the largest single shareholder in Western Digital and give it a representative on the company’s board.