TSMC to Buy AUO Taichung Plant for NT$38.8B as Quanta Deal Dies

TSMC will buy AUO's Taichung Phase II plant and its facility systems for NT$38.8 billion, excluding tax, after AUO's board approved the sale on Oct. 29, 2026, according to filings the two companies published that day and reported by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA).

The site is in Taichung's Xitun District. The sale covers buildings, cleanrooms and ancillary facility equipment with a titled floor area of about 429,030 square meters (about 129,782 ping) and a usable area of about 166,000 ping, according to AUO's filing as reported by the Economic Daily News. AUO's chairman told an earnings briefing that the plant comprises one Gen 5 line and one Gen 7.5 line, and that the price was set from market comparables and a professional appraisal, with payment in installments under the property contract.

What TSMC has said about the site

TSMC's filing says only that the asset is for operations and production. CNA asked whether TSMC will build an advanced packaging plant there, and TSMC did not answer beyond that wording. China Times reported that the market reads a purchase of an existing plant as a way to skip a long environmental review and construction period, which is an estimate, not a TSMC statement.

For the supply chain, the notable part is what comes with the shell. A building that already has cleanrooms and facility systems is capacity TSMC can fit out rather than pour from scratch. Neither company disclosed the power capacity of the site, what tools TSMC will install or when production could start, so the effect on TSMC's power and water demand in Taichung cannot yet be sized.

AUO's side of the deal

AUO expects a disposal gain of about NT$18.5 billion after transaction costs and estimated taxes. The chairman said none of it will be booked this year, because the plant is still producing and AUO must stop production, hand the site over and finish administrative steps. Whether the gain lands next year or later depends on that schedule, he said.

The sale follows AUO's earlier disposals of its Kaohsiung plant to ASE for NT$6.3 billion and its Singapore plant to Western Digital for about NT$8.75 billion, which together with the TSMC deal come to about NT$53.85 billion, Yahoo Finance Taiwan reported. The chairman said the asset-sale program is now finished and that proceeds will go first to Micro LED, optical communications, AI applications and semiconductor advanced packaging, with part used to improve the balance sheet. AUO reported a third-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of NT$2.5 billion, or NT$0.33 a share, on revenue of NT$66.88 billion.

Quanta sale scrapped

On the same day AUO ended the sale of its Huaya plant in the Taoyuan science park to Quanta Computer for NT$19.7 billion, which its board had approved on July 28. AUO said the two sides could not agree on the plant's usage specifications and delivery schedule, and that the termination does not affect its finances or operations. It said it will keep looking for a buyer. TechNews noted that Quanta had planned to use the plant to expand AI server production and that the company has yet to say how it will adjust those plans.

What is not confirmed yet

TSMC has not said what the Taichung plant will make or when it will be handed over, and AUO has given no delivery date. Advanced packaging is speculation. Voltgrid reported earlier that TSMC reportedly weighed a CoWoS price rise of up to 20%, but nothing in the Taichung filings ties the plant to that business. TSMC is also still building out its 2nm sites, including the Kaohsiung complex where three workers died at the Fab 22 site earlier this month. Neither filing links the purchase to that project.