British chipmaker ARM is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) as its parent company SoftBank plans to raise money from the public after the failed acquisition by Nvidia. Last month, a report said that Apple and Samsung are planning to buy shares of ARM when the IPO opens. Now a report by Reuters suggests that Arm customers, including Apple, and Samsung are set to be among the investors in the chip designer’s IPO.
Apart from Apple and Samsung, ARM’s IPO has attracted many notable investors from the technology and chip industry, including AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, and Alphabet. These investors have agreed to invest in the IPO at a valuation of between $50 billion and $55 billion, Reuters reported earlier on Friday. SoftBank, ARM’s parent company,is hoping to hit this target valuation.
While the investment amounts of individual companies have not been disclosed, NVIDIA, Apple, and others have agreed to invest in Arm’s IPO. The report says that the investment amount could be between $25 million and $100 million. Arm and SoftBank are keeping aside 10% of the shares to be sold in the IPO. Amazon was also in talks to invest but has since pulled out for undisclosed reasons.
It is no surprise that Samsung and Apple are investing in ARM’s IPO. Both companies are major users of ARM chips, and they will benefit from having a say in the company’s future. However, investing in ARM’s IPO does not guarantee any special treatment, such as a seat on the board of directors or the ability to dictate strategy, reports Reuters. Still, the involvement of these companies makes it more difficult for a competitor to acquire ARM in the future.
