TSMC First Taiwan Company to List on NYSE

Issued by: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.

Issued on:

1997/10/08

Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, October 8, 1997 - At 9:30am New York time on October 8th, 1997, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) successfully launched its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "TSM". TSMC is the first Taiwan company to list on the NYSE.

Ambassador Tzu-Dan Wu, Director General of Taipei Economic and Culture Office in New York, attended TSMC*s listing ceremony at NYSE. He stated that since TSMC was established ten years ago, it has become a billion-dollar world-class company.

Mr. Gary Tseng, senior vice-president of finance at TSMC, revealed that Philips Electronics N.V. has released 105 million of its TSMC common shares to be sold in the form of ADRs. Each TSMC ADR represents five common shares of TSMC. The initial offering price per ADR was US$24.78. This price was set with reference to the price of TSMC*s shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. 21 million ADRs were priced today for a total amount of US$520 million. The underwriters may exercise over-allotment options within 30 days for up to an additional 3 million ADRs. If the options are exercised in full, the total value of TSMC ADR issuance will be US$595 million.

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated integrated circuit (IC) foundry. The company offers CMOS fabrication processes that focus on logic, mixed-mode and volatile and non-volatile memory processes. Currently, TSMC operates two 6-inch wafer fabs (Fab 1 and 2), and two 8-inch wafer fabs (Fab 3 and 4), all located in Hsin-chu, Taiwan. In mid-1996, TSMC commenced construction on its first U.S. foundry, WaferTech - a $1.2 billion joint venture with Altera, Analog Devices and ISSI. Production at WaferTech is scheduled to commence in 1998. The company plans to spend approximately NT$98.5 billion (US$3.5 billion) during the period from 1997 through 1999 for bringing Fabs 3, 4 and 5 into full production and the construction of Fabs 6 and 7. Fabs 6 and 7 are expected to be located in the new Tainan Park.