Arm has attracted takeover interest from Nvidia, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. This follows reports that Softbank is considering selling the mobile chip design company as part of its asset divestments. Nvidia made an approach in recent weeks about a potential deal for UK-based Arm, according to the report.
The Japanese group bought Arm for about USD 32 billion in 2016. Shares of Nvidia have risen almost eightfold over the same period, giving it a market value of about USD 254 billion.
SoftBank previously owned a stake in Nvidia, but the Japanese firm said in early 2019 that the Vision Fund had sold off all of its Nvidia holding.
As part of the sale process, SoftBank approached Apple to gauge its interest in acquiring Arm, the Bloomberg report added. The two firms had preliminary discussions, but Apple isn’t planning to pursue a bid, as Arm’s licensing operation would fit poorly with Apple’s hardware and software business model. There may also be regulatory concerns about Apple owning a key licensee that supplies so many rivals.
