Philips sells TSMC shares

Philips announced recently that it has completed the sale of 800 million common shares, valued at approximately $1.5bn, in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Philips

recently announced that it has completed the sale of 800 million common shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) that are valued at approximately $1.5bn.

The sale was carried out as part of a TSMC share repurchase program, which was initiated by TSMC on November 14, 2007 and completed on December 31, 2007.

The TSMC share repurchase program marks the third step in a programme that will see Philips give up its holdings in TSMC by the end of 2010.

The sale of the shares has provided Philips with proceeds of approximately €980m, and will result in a non-taxable net gain of approximately €530m in the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2007.

Following completion of this sale, Philips will hold approximately 1.3 billion TSMC shares, representing approximately five per cent of TSMC’s issued shares. This total stake is worth approximately €1.7bn at current market prices.