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Japan’s Softbank buys Britain’s ARM semiconductor maker

The transaction will give some succour to European bankers who had feared that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union could leave a blank space in their deals calendar for the rest of the year.

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In a statement, Mr. Son said, “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”.

As for the Brexit point, as Hargreaves Lansdown Senior Analyst, Laith Khalaf pointed out, because only 1% of ARM’s revenues come from the United Kingdom, the falling pound has been accompanied by a strongly rising share price. “The proposed sale to SoftBank is a sad day for me and for technology in Britain”. “They have confirmed their commitment to keep the company in Cambridge and to invest further to double the number of United Kingdom jobs over five years”, May told lawmakers in the House of Commons. Revenue grew 15 percent to $1.5 billion and pretax profit grew 24 percent to 512 million pounds.

The comments come days after May launched her national campaign in Birmingham, stating that the Government should be capable of stepping in when a foreign firm swoops for British businesses that are important to workers and communities. The $20bn deal was the biggest foreign acquisition by a Japanese firm at the time.

United Kingdom chancellor of the exchequer played off that saying, “Just three weeks after the referendum decision, it shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to worldwide investors”.

The British pound has plunged in value since the Brexit vote, which has made British companies an attractive prospect for buyers overseas.

The deal comes less than one month after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, a shock event that rattled markets and caused the pound to plummet. “I’m surprised ARM wasn’t purchased sooner”, Moorhead added.

The £17 (RM89.69)-a-share price tag for ARM represented a 43 per cent premium to Friday’s close.

Both parties reached agreement on the all-cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of ARM by Softbank, according to the announcement.

Arm Holdings, Britain’s most successful technology company, is on course to double its workforce after being snapped up in a £24bn deal by Japan’s SoftBank. Nearly half of the chips were used for mobile phones and tablets, it added.

Muller said the rise of rival computers based on Intel chips dealt Acorn a fatal blow, but despite the failure Apple (AAPL.O) had seen something it liked in the technology, which it wanted to use in its Newton handheld device.

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Other investors expressed concern that the ARM acquisition may delay SoftBank’s efforts to turn around unprofitable USA wireless carrier Sprint Corp., which it bought in 2013. “Brexit did not bring us any discount”, he said.

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