China eyeing bid for UK chip maker

A PRIVATE equity firm backed by the Chinese state is reportedly planning to make a bid for Imagination Technologies, the former iPhone chip maker ditched by Apple.

Canyon Bridge Capital Partners has held talks about a potential bid for the whole of Imagination or parts of its business. It is reportedly one of several Chinese firms looking at a bid.

Imagination, once the UK’s most valuable tech firm worth £2bn, was forced to put itself up for sale after seeing almost £500m wiped off its value in just one day in April. It is now worth just £408m.

The Hertfordshire-based business has designed graphic chips for the iPhone since the product’s 2007 launch, but its fortunes tumbled when Apple announced plans to make the components itself.