Japan's SoftBank is acquiring UK-based ARM in a deal worth around $31 billion, which will be completed sometime this quarter.
SoftBank has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire UK-based ARM. The all-cash deal is worth approximately £24 billion or $31 billion, and both companies are working towards closing the deal sometime this quarter. Post the acquisition, ARM will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the SoftBank Group Corp (SBG).
The official announcement comes hours after a FT report broke the news of the possible acquisition. SoftBank will be acquiring all of ARM’s 1,412 million shares, and the price mentioned is almost 43 percent premium to its closing price last week. The Japanese company has revealed that part of the cash for the deal will be provided by Mizuho Bank, and the balance will be taken from ‘SBG’s existing cash resources’. When this deal is completed, it will be the biggest acquisition for a technology company in Europe.
Though ARM isn’t into manufacturing, its chipsets are found in smartphones, consumer gadgets and a wide variety of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. One of SoftBank’s major focus behind acquiring ARM is to become a leader in the IoT space.
“We have long admired ARM as a world renowned and highly respected technology company that is by some distance the market-leader in its field. ARM will be an excellent strategic fit within the SoftBank group as we invest to capture the very significant opportunities provided by the Internet of Things,” Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SBG said.
Son has also revealed that SoftBank will help ARM double its number of employees in the next five years, and intends to let the UK-based company function as an independent business within SBG. The company’s headquarters will also remain at Cambridge, UK.
“The Board of ARM is reassured that ARM will remain a very significant UK business and will continue to play a key role in the development of new technology,” Stuart Chambers, chairman of ARM, said. “SoftBank has given assurances that it will invest considerably in the business, including doubling the UK headcount over the next five years and maintaining ARM’s unique culture and business model.”