Samsung Electronics Sells All ASML Shares to Secure Semiconductor Investment Funds

Divided Sale of Held Stocks in 2016 and Last Year
Secured Over 8 Times Profit from ASML Stock Holdings

Samsung Electronics has sold all its shares in ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment company, to secure funds for semiconductor investment.

According to Samsung Electronics' audit report on the 21st, the company sold all 1,580,407 shares of ASML (0.4% stake) in the fourth quarter of last year. The funds secured through this sale are expected to be around 1.2 trillion KRW.

Previously, Samsung Electronics purchased a 3.0% stake in ASML in 2012 for about 700 billion KRW. Subsequently, it sold shares in 2016 and last year. In 2016, it sold half of its holdings to recover investment costs, securing about 600 billion KRW. Last year, shares were sold not only in the fourth quarter but also in the second quarter (3 trillion KRW) and third quarter (1.3 trillion KRW).

By selling all its ASML shares, Samsung Electronics has secured a total of approximately 6.1 trillion KRW. This means it earned more than eight times the return on its initial 700 billion KRW investment.

Samsung Electronics is known to have sold all its ASML shares to secure funds for semiconductor business investment. The company has announced plans to increase investments in high value-added memory such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and the foundry sector amid a recovery in the semiconductor market this year.

Despite a sharp decline in performance last year due to the semiconductor market downturn, the company invested 53.1 trillion KRW in facilities, similar to 2022. It also invested a record-high 28.34 trillion KRW in research and development (R&D).