Intel Sells 10 Percent Stake In Advanced Chip Tool Business To TSMC
Acquired by Intel in 2015, IMS Nanofabrication is a Vienna, Austria-based business that develops multi-beam masking tools that are required to develop advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, also known as EUV, a technology critical to many leading-edge chips manufactured today.
Intel said it has agreed to sell to Taiwanese foundry giant TSMC a roughly 10 percent stake in its standalone subsidiary whose tools are required to develop a growing share of advanced chips.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company announced the agreement Tuesday and said the deal values the business, IMS Nanofabrication, at the same $4.3 billion value that was given when Intel agreed to sell an approximately 20 percent stake in the subsidiary to private equity firm Bain Capital in June.
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The IMS stake sale to TSMC is expected to close in the fourth quarter while the sale to Bain Capital was previously expected to close in the third quarter.
Intel will remain the majority stakeholder of IMS, which will continue to operate as a standalone subsidiary under the leadership of CEO Elmar Platzgummer.
Acquired by Intel in 2015, IMS is a Vienna, Austria-based business that develops multi-beam masking tools that are required to develop advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, also known as EUV, a technology critical to many leading-edge chips manufactured today.
With chipmakers like Intel and TSMC broadly adopting EUV technology for advanced chip manufacturing processes, Intel said investments by TSMC and Bain Capital will provide IMS “increased independence and reinforce confidence in the significant opportunity ahead.”
While Intel is building a contract chip manufacturing business called Intel Foundry Services to challenge TSMC and other foundries, the semiconductor giant also relies on TSMC to manufacture a growing share of its products as part of its so-called IDM 2.0 strategy.
“This investment demonstrates the deep industry collaboration IMS is pioneering to advance critical lithography technology for leading-edge nodes, which will benefit the entire semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem,” said Matt Poirier, senior vice president of corporate development at Intel.
“With enhanced independence, IMS will be well positioned to address the significant growth opportunity for multi-beam mask writing tools over the next decade and beyond,” he added.
Kevin Zhang, senior vice president of business development at TSMC, said the Taiwan-based contract chip manufacturer “has been working with IMS since 2012 on the development of multi-beam mask writers for advanced technology nodes.”
“This investment continues the long-term partnership between TSMC and IMS to accelerate innovation and enable deeper cross-industry collaboration,” Zhang added.