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TSMC is in a heated tussle with a golf course to build the most advanced 2nm chip plant on the planet
(www.tomshardware.com)
However, according to United Daily News (machine translated), the golf course’s club members are blocking the acquisition because they demand a NT$1.8-million (approximately US$56,000) buyback price for each golf certificate.
This amount is based on 80% of the average NT$2.2-million price of one golf share for a course based in Central Taiwan over the past two years. Given that the Hsing Nong Golf Course issued 1,750 certificates, that amounts to a total of NT$3.15 billion or over US$98.5 million. However, the current average price of a single golf certificate in central Taiwan has already exceeded NT$3 million (around US$94,000). Nevertheless, the Hsing Nong Golf Course expects to net between NT$15 to NT$20 billion (US$470 to US$626 million) from the sale, even after paying the members’ asking price.
I think it’s a thing in the US, and I guess Taiwan and probably other countries too, that when you join a country club, in addition to the monthly dues, you typically have to put a fairly substantial chunk of money (probably $10s of thousands+ depending on the prestige of the club), but if you leave the club you get that chunk back (or at least a large portion of it, whatever is contracted). It might not come back very quickly, but will at some point after new members join.
Granted, I’m getting this second-hand from an article that used machine translation on the original article in a foreign language, but it sounds kinda sketchy that the club owners seem to be trying to avoid paying out to the members.