Intel agreed to sell an approximately 10 per cent stake in its IMS Nanofabrication business to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) in a deal valued at about $4.3 billion which it argued will boost the unit’s independence.

It remains the majority shareholder in IMS, which will continue to operate as a standalone subsidiary.

The deal is expected to close in Q4.

Intel sold a 20 per cent stake of IMS to Bain Capital at the same valuation in June.

It stated Austria-based IMS is a frontrunner in producing “multi-beam mask writing tools required to develop advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV)” used to deliver chips for AI and mobile technologies, among others.

Intel stated AI, pervasive connectivity, ubiquitous computing, cloud-to-edge infrastructure and sensors are driving growth in semiconductor demand, predicting revenue to hit $1 trillion by 2030.

Kevin Zhang, SVP of business development at TSMC, noted it worked with IMS since 2012.

Intel invested in IMS in 2009 and acquired remaining stakes in 2015.