The Dutch government has blocked US IT giant Kyndryl’s acquisition of Dutch cloud provider Solvinity, which hosts the Netherlands’ online identity platform. The Hague government said the deal could pose a “risk to the public interest”.
Dutch Digital Economy Minister Willemijn Aerdts said in a machine-translated letter published on Monday that the government had “completely prohibited” acquisitions. The deal allowed Kyndryl to purchase Solvinity for an undisclosed sum. Solvinity hosts a platform called DigiD, a service managed by the Dutch government that allows Dutch residents to verify their identity when accessing public services.
The deal raised concerns that DigiD data could come under foreign control and be claimed by U.S. authorities.
The Dutch government did not give an explicit reason for blocking the takeover, but the move comes as several European countries are moving to reduce their dependence on U.S. tech giants amid an increasingly unpredictable and vindictive Trump administration.
Under U.S. law, government authorities, including law enforcement and intelligence agencies, can require U.S. companies to hand over data stored in overseas data centers, regardless of that country’s data protection laws.
Politico first reported this news. Kyrdryl told the publication the company was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
