Intel sells about 10% of IMS shares to TSMC
Intel has announced an agreement to divest approximately 10% of its stake in the IMS Nanofabrication business (“IMS”) to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), with the transaction anticipated to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2023. The board of TSMC has approved the acquisition at a price of $432.8 million, signifying an implied valuation of roughly $4.3 billion for IMS. This valuation aligns with Intel’s recent divestiture of approximately 20% of its stake to Bain Capital. While Intel will retain a majority interest in IMS, the entity will continue its operations as an autonomous subsidiary of Intel, under the leadership of CEO Dr. Elmar Platzgummer.
Renowned as an industry vanguard in the development of multi-beam mask writing tools essential for advanced Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV), IMS’s innovations are extensively employed in cutting-edge technological nodes, catering to the most rigorous computational applications. In Intel’s perspective, the investments from both TSMC and Bain Capital imbue IMS with heightened independence and autonomy, catalyzing its growth trajectory and propelling the subsequent phase of lithographic technological breakthroughs, thus facilitating the industry’s transition to novel system paradigms, such as the next-generation high-NA EUV.
Kevin Zhang, Senior Vice President of Business Development at TSMC, commented that ever since 2012, TSMC has fostered a collaborative venture with IMS, honing multi-beam mask writers tailored for avant-garde technological nodes. This fresh infusion of capital reaffirms the enduring alliance between the two entities, expediting innovation and deepening inter-industrial collaboration.
Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Vienna, Austria, IMS first garnered Intel’s investment in 2009 and was subsequently acquired by the tech giant in 2015. Post-acquisition, IMS witnessed a fourfold augmentation in both workforce and capacity, successively launching three product generations and yielding tangible returns for Intel.
