Nvidia said talks with regulators on the company's proposed acquisition of Arm are taking longer than expected. While the company previously expected to close the deal in early 2022, it has not provided a new timeframe. The comments were made by Nvidia CFO Colette Kress in a presentation on the company's quarterly results.
Kress said "some Arm licensees have expressed concerns or objected to the transaction". While discussions with regulators are taking longer than initially thought, "we are confident in the deal and that regulators should recognize the benefits of the acquisition to Arm, its licensees, and the industry," she said.
Nvidia announced an agreement in September 2020 to buy Arm for USD 40 billion from Softbank. Since then reports have emerged of opposition from chipmakers such as Qualcomm and Chinese rivals, which rely on Arm's designs for their products. Furthermore, the government in the UK, where Arm is based, is reportedly considering blocking the deal due to national security concerns.
Q2 results better than expected
The quarterly report showed that Nvidia's organic growth remains intact. Revenues for the three months to July rose 68 percent year-on-year and 15 percent from the previous quarter to a record USD 6.51 billion, better than expected and driven by demand for its gaming and data centre products. EPS jumped to USD 0.94 from USD 0.25 a year ago.
For the current quarter, Nvidia forecast revenue of USD 6.80 billion, plus or minus 2 percent.
