New York, September 18, 2000 - United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), one of the world's largest independent semiconductor foundries, today announced its initial public offering of 90 Million SEC registered American Depositary Shares (ADS's) on September 18 in New York. The issuance raised USD $1.3B. This transaction posted the largest dollar value achieved for any Taiwan-corporate initial SEC offering to date. The ADS's, representing 450 Million primary UMC Common Shares, were priced at $14.35 per share, 15% over the common shares, which closed at 78.00 NTD per share as of September 18, 2000. The ADSs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and will trade under the symbol "UMC."

"We are happy to join the other global technology companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the world's best known and most established equities trading place," said John Hsuan, Chairman of UMC. "We look forward to this exciting new era for our company and our shareholders."

UMC was established in 1980 and in 1985 was the first semiconductor company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In 1995, UMC transformed its operations to become a pure-play foundry, and, on January 3rd of this year, consolidated its five Taiwan semiconductor foundry companies into a single corporation, UMC.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the sole bookrunner of the offering, has a "greenshoe" option to purchase from a selling shareholder and sell up to 2 MM more UMC ADSs.