Semiconductor manufacturing major Intel has agreed to sell nearly 10% stake in IMS Nanofabrication to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Intel said the deal values IMS at around $4.3bn, which is similar with the valuation of the most recent stake sale to Bain Capital Special Situations (Bain Capital).

The deal is expected to close in Q4 2023.

In June this year, Intel agreed to sell roughly 20% stake in IMS to Bain Capital and at the time, it was reported that the deal was valued at $860m.

Vienna, Austria-based IMS builds multi-beam mask writing tools used to develop extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology, which is crucial for manufacturing semiconductors.

The combined investments from Bain Capital and TSMC provide more independence to IMS, Intel said, adding that this increased independence will benefit IMS in accelerating growth and furthering innovation in lithography technology.

TSMC senior vice president of business development Kevin Zhang said: “TSMC has been working with IMS since 2012 on the development of multi-beam mask writers for advanced technology nodes.

“This investment continues the long-term partnership between TSMC and IMS to accelerate innovation and enable deeper cross-industry collaboration.”

Intel senior vice president of corporate development Matt Poirier said: “This investment demonstrates the deep industry collaboration IMS is pioneering to advance critical lithography technology for leading-edge nodes, which will benefit the entire semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.

“With enhanced independence, IMS will be well positioned to address the significant growth opportunity for multi-beam mask writing tools over the next decade and beyond.”

Intel first invested in IMS in 2009 and in 2015, the company purchased the remaining shares.