Nvidia’s takeover of ARM kept the financial markets on their toes for some time. However, the global opposition to the deal was too much for the greens’ ambitions, even though several voices had warned of the technical impossibility of the operation. But Nvidia is not forgetting ARM. For 18 months after this failure, ARM’s owner SoftBank is going to introduce the company to the market… And Nvidia intends to take advantage of Arm’s IPO to acquire a significant stake in the company.
Could Nvidia be in for a second round with ARM?
According to the Financial Times, SoftBank approached Nvidia directly with a proposal to secure as many Arm shares as possible. If we go back in time, the aborted deal was worth $66 billion. Since then, several sources have suggested that Softbank’s ambition was to extract between 70 and 80 billion from its 75% stake in ARM through the IPO. However, times have changed, and the markets are experiencing headwinds. Current figures suggest a valuation of around 40 billion. SoftBank is therefore said to be in consultation with preferred partners before going public, in order to avoid any financial risk and, why not, to raise the stakes. A number of major players in the sector have already positioned themselves, including Intel , which is said to be seeking a significant stake. But other big names such as Microsoft, TSMC, Samsung and Apple are also being considered for a stake before the company goes public.
