Infineon Technologies AG ’s $8.7 billion acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a small step forward for deals in an industry where regulatory and security concerns have stalled consolidation.

“CFIUS has completed its review of Cypress’s previously announced merger transaction with Infineon Technologies AG and determined that there are no unresolved national security concerns,” Cypress said in a
statement.

Infineon also confirmed the approval.

The combination still needs sign-off from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, the companies said.

China has dismissed a Qualcomm/NXP deal, but the country was in the midst of the trade war between the US and China. Qualcomm eventually decided to scrap its $44 billion bid for rival chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV in 2018 after an almost two-year wait for approval.

Nvidia is also waiting for Chinese approval of its acquisition of Israel’s Mellanox Technologies Ltd. Nvidia executives have said that they expect the transaction to close in the first half of this year.