Royal Philips Electronics (the Netherlands) announced that it is planning to sell a portion of its 4.4 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, Taiwan) shares. TSMC's board of directors approved sponsoring an offering of the company's American Depositary Shares (ADS) by its largest shareholder, Philips, the Development Fund of the Executive Yuan (DF) and other unnamed shareholders.
The maximum total offering size will be 210 million ADSs, with each ADS representing five TSMC common shares for a total of 1.05 billion shares. Exact amounts to be sold were not released, with the foundry kingpin stating the amounts will be disclosed at the time of the filings to the Taiwan Securities and Futures Bureau and the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Both Philips and DF have agreed not to sell any more TSMC shares at least until the end of 2006, either in the Taiwanese or international markets.
Philips intends to remain as TSMC's strategic partner and its largest shareholder. Currently, Philips holds approximately 19% of TSMC shares; DF holds 7.4% of TSMC shares.
