300 billion to 6 trillion…Samsung’s ‘ghostly investment’
- allforyouclick
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- on Jun 05, 2023
- Samsung Electronics, along with rivals Intel and TSMC, bought shares in a Dutch company. ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment company. Nowadays, ASML is considered a “superstar” in the semiconductor market. But 11 years ago, the company had no research and development expenses and had to rely on investment from Samsung Electronics. Samsung’s 1.6 per cent stake in ASML, which it bought for 300 billion won스포츠토토, is now worth more than 6 trillion won.
According to an electronic industry report on the 5th, Samsung Electronics currently holds 6.29 million shares of ASML (1.6% stake). Using the closing price of ASML ($724.65) on the 2nd of this month, the value of Samsung’s stake is estimated at $4.5639 billion (approximately 6.240 trillion won). That’s more than 17 times the cost of the acquisition (363 billion won).
ASML has risen 15.9 per cent in the past three months on expectations of a revival in the semiconductor industry. It even hit a one-year “high” on 26 May ($735.93).
Samsung Electronics bought a stake in ASML in 2012. ASML issued shares with limited voting rights to three companies – Samsung, TSMC, and Intel – to raise money for research and development. Samsung purchased a 3 per cent stake in ASML at the time, but sold about half of its holding (1.4 per cent) in 2016. Intel and TSMC also bought 15% and 5% stakes in ASML, respectively. Intel has drastically reduced its stake to 3% today, while TSMC sold its entire stake in 2015.
Founded in 1984 in a wooden building next to Philips’ headquarters, ASML succeeded in developing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment with funding from Samsung Electronics and others. The company has a virtual monopoly on EUV lithography equipment, which costs around 300 billion won per unit. Exposure refers to the process of engraving circuits on wafers with light. The finer the circuitry, the higher the number of high-performance semiconductor chips that can be produced on a wafer.
ASML’s annual production capacity is only about 30 to 40 units, so competition for the equipment is fierce from semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and TSMC. This is where ASML comes in. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has visited ASML in the Netherlands several times since 2020 to discuss the supply of EUV lithography equipment. It is said that ASML has become an indispensable business partner in the semiconductor business while having a significant impact on Samsung Electronics’ return on investment.