Taiwan's
Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved on
June 28, 2010 the application filed by TSMC to acquire 8% stake in the China-based
SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), according to Economic
Daily News of Taiwan. As part of the legal settlement reached in November 2009 between TSMC and SMIC, it is expected that TSMC will receive approximately 8%
of SMIC's shares. This is the first application approved by the Taiwanese
government to allow companies to take stakes in China-based 12-inch wafer
foundry, according to the same source. Direct investments, however, are still
prohibited.
Under
the new regulations which took effect on February 26 this year, Taiwanese companies
are now allowed to acquire stakes in Chinese semiconductor companies which
operate with technologies at least two generations behind the Taiwanese
companies.