Seagate Technology announced it will pay a $300 million penalty for selling hard disk drives to Huawei.
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Unedited press release follows:
Seagate Reaches Resolution with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security
Reschedules Reporting of Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA – April 19, 2023 – Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ: STX, “Company”), a world leader in data storage infrastructure solutions, today announced that its subsidiaries, Seagate Technology LLC and Seagate Singapore International Headquarters Pte. Ltd. (collectively, “Seagate”) have reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) that resolves BIS’s allegations that Seagate’s sales of hard disk drives to Huawei between August 17, 2020 and September 29, 2021 did not comply with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Seagate has agreed to pay $300 million to the U.S. Department of Commerce, to be paid in installments of $15 million per quarter over the course of five years, with the first installment due in October 2023. Additional information regarding the terms of the agreement is included in the Form 8-K that will be filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We believe entering this agreement with BIS and resolving this matter is in the best interest of Seagate, our customers and our shareholders,” said Dave Mosley, the Company’s chief executive officer. “Integrity is one of our core values, and we have a strong commitment to compliance as evidenced by our global team of international trade compliance and legal professionals – complemented by external experts and outside counsel. While we believed we complied with all relevant export control laws at the time we made the hard disk drive sales at issue, we determined that engaging with BIS and settling this matter was the best course of action. We are now moving forward fully focused on executing our strong technology roadmap to support the growing demand for mass data storage solutions.”
In determining to engage with BIS and resolve this matter through a settlement agreement, the Company considered a number of factors, including the risks and cost of protracted litigation involving the U.S. government, as well as the size of the potential penalty and the Company’s desire to focus on current business challenges and long-term business strategy. Additionally, the settlement agreement reflects the Company’s strong commitment to compliance.
Covington & Burling LLP, Thomsen and Burke LLP, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation are serving as legal counsel to Seagate.
Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call
In light of the settlement with BIS, the Company will now report fiscal third quarter 2023 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, April 20, 2023. The investment community conference call to discuss these results and the settlement agreement with BIS will take place on April 20, 2023, at 6:00 a.m. PT / 9:00 a.m. ET.
The live audio webcast can be accessed online at Seagate’s Investor Relations website at investors.seagate.com.
About Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology crafts the datasphere, helping to maximize humanity’s potential by innovating world-class, precision-engineered mass-data storage and management solutions with a focus on sustainable partnerships. A global technology leader for more than 40 years, the Company has shipped over four billion terabytes of data capacity. Learn more about Seagate by visiting www.seagate.com or following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and subscribing to our blog.