Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Intel has officially terminated its acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, the Israeli chipmaking company it announced its intention to buy for $5.4 billion in February 2022. In a press release Intel blamed its “inability to obtain… the regulatory approvals required under the merger agreement” in a timely manner, adding that both parties agreed to terminate the deal. Intel had originally hoped to close the transaction in 12 months, but will now pay a termination fee of $353 million to Tower.

Although Intel’s press release doesn’t mention the regulator directly, Bloomberg reports that it was the Chinese authorities who hadn’t approve the deal ahead of the transaction’s deadline at midnight California time on August 15th. Sure enough, Intel’s…

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