[News] TSMC Plans to Sell 8.1% Stake in Vanguard to Focus Resources on Core Businesses

TSMC announced on May 15 that it plans to sell shares in affiliate company Vanguard. According to Commercial Times, the foundry giant intends to sell up to 152 million common shares of Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS), equivalent to around 8.1% of Vanguard’s outstanding shares. The transaction is expected to be carried out through block trades, with financial institutions as the primary buyers.

As the report notes, TSMC emphasized that the share sale is based on resource allocation considerations, aiming to focus resources more closely on its core businesses. Following the sale, TSMC’s stake in Vanguard is expected to decline from around 27.1% to approximately 19%, with no further plans to reduce its holdings in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, TSMC noted that since June 2024, it has no longer held a board seat at Vanguard, and the relationship between the two companies has gradually shifted from equity ties toward business cooperation, the report adds.

TSMC stated that the disposal of Vanguard shares will not affect the existing strategic partnership between the two companies. TSMC and Vanguard are expected to continue cooperating in specialty process technologies and advanced packaging supply chains, including outsourcing silicon interposer production to Vanguard and licensing gallium nitride (GaN) process technology to the company.

Industry sources cited by the report say TSMC’s rising capital spending on advanced nodes, AI HPC, packaging, and global expansion may be driving a sharper focus on core priorities. The planned partial sale of Vanguard shares is seen as part of efforts to concentrate resources on 2nm, A16, advanced packaging including CoWoS and SoIC, and capacity expansion in the U.S., Japan, and Germany.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)