Acquisition

ARM Holdings and SoftBank Group: the deal on record

SoftBank Group agreed in July 2016 to buy the British chip designer ARM Holdings for 1,700 pence per share in cash, a total of approximately GBP 24.0 billion. The scheme of arrangement became operative on 5 September 2016, taking ARM off the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. SoftBank later agreed to sell Arm to NVIDIA, a deal abandoned in 2022, and then floated a minority stake on Nasdaq in September 2023.^1,2,5,4

Timeline

1. 18 July 2016SoftBank announces a recommended cash acquisition of ARM at 1,700 pence per share.¹
2. 5 September 2016The scheme of arrangement becomes operative and SoftBank owns the entire share capital of ARM.²
3. 13 September 2020NVIDIA announces an agreement to acquire Arm from SoftBank for USD 40 billion.³
4. 7 February 2022NVIDIA and SoftBank terminate the agreement, citing significant regulatory challenges.⁴
5. 13 September 2023Arm prices an IPO of American depositary shares on Nasdaq at USD 51.00, with all proceeds going to the selling shareholder.⁵

Status now

Listed on Nasdaq since 2023 with SoftBank Group as controlling shareholder, according to the IPO prospectus.⁵

Sources

1. SoftBank Group, Recommended Acquisition of ARM by SoftBank (18 July 2016)
2. SoftBank Group, Completion of Acquisition of ARM by SoftBank (5 September 2016)
3. NVIDIA, NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion, Creating World's Premier Computing Company for the Age of AI (13 September 2020)
4. NVIDIA, NVIDIA and SoftBank Group Announce Termination of NVIDIA's Acquisition of Arm Limited (7 February 2022)
5. US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), Arm Holdings plc prospectus (Form 424B4) (14 September 2023)