Samsung Elec has more than halved its stake in ASML, filings show

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has reduced its stake in semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker ASML by more than a half, its recent filings showed.

Samsung held 2.75 million shares in the Dutch company as of end-June, the South Korean tech giant said in its semi-annual report, down from 6.3 million shares in its first quarter report.

The stake that Samsung sold is worth around 2.1 billion euros ($2.29 billion) based on the latest share prices.

Samsung is expected to spend the proceeds on new memory chip production lines, local media reported on Wednesday. A Samsung Elec spokesperson confirmed the stake sale but did not elaborate.