Because of the political unrest in the UK government, SoftBank (9984.T) has postponed plans for a London IPO of the British chip technology company Arm Ltd, according to a source.
Arms London IPO and SoftBank
Following the fall of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government earlier this month, the departures of investment minister Gerry Grimstone and digital minister Chris Philp prompted SoftBank to halt talks about Arm’s UK listing next year, according to the FT, which cited people briefed on the discussions.
The FT stated that they had both taken the initiative in discussions with the Japanese tech investor and that the commotion may have opened the door for SoftBank to explore a less complicated U.S. listing.
They did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did Arm nor the UK government. The billionaire founder of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, had previously stated to shareholders in June that he supported a U.S. listing because the majority of Arm’s customers were headquartered there.
SoftBank and Their Investment
In 2016, they paid $32 billion for the Cambridge, England-based Arm company, and four years later, the company was sold to Nvidia Corp. in a ground-breaking deal (NVDA.O). Regulator obstacles, however, forced the deal to be postponed.
The majority of the world’s smartphones, including those made by Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., are powered by chips made using intellectual property from Arm.
One participant suggested that SoftBank’s recent investment in PrimaryBid, which offers a platform for retail investors to purchase shares in initial public offerings, could be leveraged to draw private investors to the company in the UK. Last year, PrimaryBid worked on a British members’ offering for the Soho House private club’s US listing.
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