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SoftBank’s Arm Hoping to Raise $8 Billion From Mega US IPO

SoftBank has reportedly picked Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Mizuho Financial Group to lead the US listing.


An Arm semiconductor
Arm's stock market listing is expected to be the most high-profile listing in recent years. Photo: Arm.

 

SoftBank-owned British chip designer Arm Ltd will likely to aim to raise at least $8 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States this year, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Arm is likely to confidentially submit paperwork for what is expected to be a blockbuster US stock market launch in late April, the sources said.

The listing is expected to happen later this year and the exact timing will be determined by market conditions, the sources added, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential.

 

Also on AF: SoftBank to List Arm in New York, Despite British Appeals

 

SoftBank has picked Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Mizuho Financial Group to lead the flotation. However, no bank has been picked for the much-coveted “lead left” position yet, the sources said.

The Australian Financial Review reported on the lead investment banks earlier on Sunday. Barclays, JPMorgan and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Arm, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho declined to comment.

 

Planned valuation of over $50 billion

Preparations for Arm’s IPO are expected to be kick-started in the US in the coming days, the sources said.

The chip giant is seeking a valuation of more than $50 billion in the share sale but it has not finalised a valuation range yet, they said.

Arm’s stock market listing is expected to be the most high-profile flotation in recent years. If successful, it would provide a boost to the IPO market, which has been largely frozen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. War in Ukraine triggered market volatility and a huge sell-off in tech stocks.

The IPO market briefly flickered back to life last month as a number of companies including solar tech firm Nextracker Inc and Chinese sensor maker Hesai Group listed their shares on US stock exchanges. However, investors still remain wary of betting on new stocks.

IPO advisors are not expecting a full-blown recovery in capital markets until the latter half of this year.

Arm said last week it would pursue a US-only listing this year. The announcement dashed the British government’s hopes that the Cambridge, England-based tech giant would return to the London stock market.

SoftBank has been pursuing a listing for Arm since its deal to sell the chip designer to Nvidia Corp for $40 billion collapsed last year because of objections from US and European antitrust regulators.

SoftBank bought Arm in 2016 in a $32-billion deal that received the minimum level of scrutiny by the British government.

 

  • Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena

 

 

Also read:

 

SoftBank’s Chip Tech Firm Arm China Sees 90% Drop in Profit

 

SoftBank’s Arm Cannot Sell Cutting-Edge Chip Designs to China

 

Vision Fund $5.52bn Slump Throws SoftBank in The Red

 

SoftBank Seen Not Proposing Arm Investment To Samsung

 

 

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]