TSMC Is On A Buying Spree

TSMC Picks Up A Slice Of Intel And Is Eyeing ARM

Intel recently divested shares of their IMS Nanofabrication company, which designs and produces the photomasks required to fabricate chips.  The original sale of 20% of the company was to Bain Capital and today it was announced that TSMC have followed suit by purchasing 10% of the company.  The $430 million deal is not just good news for TSMC, as analysts believe that IMS will be more attractive to customers now that it is not solely owned by Intel.

In addition, TSMC is looking to spend $100 million on ARM shares when that company’s IPO drops, which it is expected to this week.  This makes a lot of sense considering how much of TSMC’s production lines are dedicated to fabbing ARM processors.  It is unclear how many stocks that might actually represent, as the interest in ARM’s IPO is so overwhelming the actual valuation of the IPO is constantly changing.

These two purchases will extend TSMC’s reach in the market, and it will be very interesting to see the effect it has on the market and on the three major chip companies.