The shareholders of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), including Royal Philips Electronics NV, raised US$1.3 billion selling shares in the US, according to the company.
Philips, Taiwan's Development Fund (
The price is at a 0.6 percent discount to Thursday's closing price of US$8.65. Each ADR represents five common shares.
The sale may reinforce optimism that investor demand for Asian technology stocks is rising.
The government this week started a stake sale of Chunghwa Telecom Co (
"It's positive that they sold such a big volume with almost no discount," said Victor Shih, a fund manager at HSBC Asset Management Taiwan in Taipei.
"Investors have confidence in TSMC's management team and its profit outlook," he said.
Shares of TSMC fell 2.2 percent to NT$54.70 on Thursday.
The market was shut yesterday because of Typhoon Matsa.
TSMC shareholders may sell an additional 22.5 million ADRs depending on demand. They will own 5.89 billion common shares, or 23.83 percent of the company, after the sale, according to the filing.
The ADR offer, which was first announced on May 10, allows shareholders such as Royal Philips and the Development Fund to sell their stakes in TSMC for a premium compared with if they sold the common shares traded in Taipei.
The company's US-traded shares traded at an average 3.4 percent premium to the common shares in the past three months.
Philips will cut its stake in the company to 16.6 percent from 18.7 percent.
The company, Europe's third-largest maker of semiconductors, said yesterday it will receive about 715 million euros (US$884 million) in gross proceeds from the sale. The Amsterdam-based company will book a non-taxable gain of about 420 million euros in its third-quarter earnings from the sale, the company said in a statement.
The Development Fund, another founding shareholder, will own 6.5 percent, down from 7.29 percent. Stakes of the Philips and the government fund will fall further if the over-allotment is exercised.
RSS