Apple and Samsung to Invest in Softbank-Owned Chip Firm Arm at IPO: Report

Apple and Samsung Electronics will invest in SoftBank Group-owned chip designer Arm at its initial public offering (IPO), expected in September, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Reuters reported in June that Arm was in talks with some ten companies – including Apple, Samsung, and Intel – with the aim of bringing on one or more anchor investors in the offering.

Last month, Reuters and other media reported that Arm was in talks to bring in US chip designer Nvidia as an anchor investor for the New York listing.

Apple, Samsung, Nvidia, and Intel all plan to invest in Arm as soon as it is listed on the market, the Nikkei said. The SoftBank-owned firm will officially apply to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the listing later this month, the newspaper said.

Arm plans to sell the chipmakers stakes of “a few percent each”, the newspaper said.

SoftBank declined to comment. Apple, Nvidia, and Intel did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. Samsung did not have an immediate comment.

The long-awaited IPO is seen as a potential windfall for Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son’s sprawling tech conglomerate.

SoftBank has been targeting a listing for Arm since its deal to sell the chip designer to Nvidia collapsed last year due to objections from antitrust regulators.

The planned US listing could raise between $8 billion (roughly Rs. 66,292) and $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,856), sources told Reuters in April. At an earnings briefing on Tuesday, SoftBank’s chief financial officer provided no details on a listing date or fundraising goal, but said preparations were going “very smoothly”.

SoftBank posted a surprise loss on Tuesday but said it was dipping its toes back into new investments after its Vision Fund unit returned to the black for the first time in six quarters. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023