China's Tsinghua Holdings Co. has revealed that it has acquired an unspecified stake in Silicon Valley's chip maker Marvell Technology. The revelation was made in a filing with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 6.

The state-owned limited liability corporation, however, failed to file a disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Filing with the SEC is required if a company is buying over five percent of a publicly traded U.S. firm.

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A representative of the Chinese firm refused to comment on the issue, while a spokesman for Marvell Technology claimed he has no idea of Tsinghua's investment size.

"As far as we are concerned, they are a shareholder for investment purposes," the Marvell Technology representative said.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Monday that both companies have already received federal approval for the unspecified transaction.

The most recent filing highlights the interest of Chinese investors in the semiconductor industry of the U.S. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been persuading Chinese firms to go local to minimize dependence on foreign-made chips.

Earlier last month, Marvell Technology fired its husband-and-wife management team Chief Executive Sehat Sutardja and President Weili Dai after an accounting investigation discovered issues with the "tone at the top," such as putting intense pressure on sales and finance personnel to reach the specified targets.

Timothy Arcuri, an analyst affiliated with Cowen & Co., believes that the change of management will allow a part of Marvell to be put up for sale. He, however, expressed uncertainty whether U.S. regulators will approve an all-out or partial Chinese sale.

"This thing is absolutely ripe for China to come in," he said nonetheless.

TagsTsinghua Holdings, Marvell Technology, Silicon Valley, Chip Maker, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission