SoftBank-backed Arm's long march to $54.5 billion US listing
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2023-09-14 20:58
Arm Holdings secured a $54.5 billion valuation in its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, seven years

Arm Holdings secured a $54.5 billion valuation in its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, seven years after its owner SoftBank Group took the chip designer private for $32 billion.

The Japanese investment giant sold 95.5 million American Depositary shares of Arm at $51 apiece to raise $4.87 billion in the listing.

Last month, SoftBank signed a deal to buy the 25% stake it did not already own in Arm from its $100 billion Vision Fund, enabling it to sell fewer Arm shares in the IPO.

Below is a timeline of key events:

Date Development

July 17, 2016 SoftBank says it will buy Arm for $32

billion in cash, taking it private

June 17, 2019 Nvidia says it will make its chips work

with processors from Arm to build

supercomputers

July 22, 2020 Arm gathers takeover interest from

Nvidia, Bloomberg reports

Sept 12, 2020 Nvidia nears a deal to buy Arm from

SoftBank for more than $40 billion,

sources tell Reuters

Sept 13, 2020 Nvidia says it will buy Arm from SoftBank

for as much as $40 billion

Sept 14, 2020 British government says it will

scrutinize Nvidia's deal to buy Arm,

including what it might mean for the

company's headquarters in England

Sept 15, 2020 An op-ed in China's state-backed Global

Times says Nvidia's planned acquisition

of Arm from SoftBank was "disturbing"

Sept 21, 2020 Britain's digital minister says assessing

the impact of the sale of Arm, including

commitments to keep its head office and

staff in Cambridge

Jan 6, 2021 Britain's competition regulator says it

would start an investigation into

Nvidia's deal to buy Arm

Feb 12, 2021 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission opens

an in-depth probe into Nvidia's

agreement to acquire Arm, Bloomberg

reports

April 19, 2021 The UK government says it will look into

the national security implications of

Nvidia's purchase of Arm

July 2, 2021 Arm CEO says deal with Nvidia is better

than becoming a standalone public company

once again

Aug 3, 2021 The UK government is considering blocking

the acquisition of Arm on potential

national security risks, Bloomberg News

reports

Aug 20, 2021 Nvidia deal for Arm hits a major hurdle

after a UK regulator finds it could

damage competition and weaken rivals, and

requires a further lengthy investigation

Aug 27, 2021 European Union is set to launch a formal

competition probe into Nvidia's planned

takeover of Arm in early September, the

Financial Times reports

Oct 27, 2021 EU antitrust regulators open a four-month

long investigation into Nvidia's bid for

Arm

Nov 16, 2021 Britain orders an in-depth investigation

of Nvidia's deal for Arm

Dec 2, 2021 The U.S. FTC sues to block Nvidia's deal

for Arm

Dec 6, 2021 U.S. FTC says competition in the nascent

markets for chips in self-driving cars

and a new category of networking chips

could be hurt if Nvidia carries out its

purchase of Arm

Feb 7, 2022 SoftBank shelves its blockbuster sale of

Arm to Nvidia, citing regulatory hurdles,

and will instead seek to list the company

June 22, 2022 British PM Boris Johnson's spokesman says

he was not aware of any plans to try to

compel Arm to list in London after the

Financial Times reported that officials

were considering such a move

June 24, 2022 SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son

reiterates it was most likely to list Arm

on Nasdaq, while stressing no decision

has been made

March 5, 2023 Arm likely to aim to raise at least $8

billion from what is expected to be a

blockbuster U.S. stock market launch this

year, sources tell Reuters

April 29, 2023 Reuters first reports, citing sources,

Arm has filed with regulators

confidentially for a U.S. stock market

listing

June 12, 2023 Arm is in talks with some of its biggest

customers and end-users about bringing on

one or more anchor investors, sources

tell Reuters.

Aug 8, 2023 Apple and Samsung Electronics will invest

in Arm at its IPO, expected in September,

Japan's Nikkei newspaper reports

Aug 8, 2023 Reuters first reports Amazon.com is in

talks about joining other technology

companies as a cornerstone investor in

IPO

Aug 13, 2023 Reuters first reports SoftBank is in

talks to acquire the 25% stake in Arm it

does not directly own from Vision Fund 1

(VF1)

Aug 22, 2023 Arm's annual revenue dropped 1% due to a

slowdown in smartphone sales, it

discloses in its paperwork for a U.S. IPO

Aug 23, 2023 Reuters first reports Arm has signed up

28 banks for its IPO without giving them

a fee arrangement

Aug 31, 2023 Arm plans to launch its roadshow for

investors after Labor Day, sources tell

Reuters

Sept 1, 2023 Reuters first reports customers of Arm

including Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet and

Advanced Micro Devices have agreed to

invest in IPO

Sept 1, 2023 Arm is targeting a valuation between $50

billion and $55 billion for its

much-awaited IPO, sources tell Reuters

Sept 2, 2023 Reuters first reports Arm is planning to

ask investors to pay $47 to $51 for each

of its shares when it begins marketing

its IPO

Sept 5, 2023 SoftBank launches the roadshow for Arm's

blockbuster IPO

Sept 8, 2023 Arm sees investor demand that is six

times the amount it is asking for its

shares, a source tells Reuters

Sept 10, 2023 Reuters first reports Arm is getting

close to securing enough investor support

to attain the fully diluted valuation of

$54.5 billion it was seeking in its IPO

at the top of its indicated range, and is

considering asking investors to value it

higher

Sept 12, 2023 Reuters first reports Arm received enough

backing from investors to secure at least

the top end of the price range in its

IPO, which would command a $54.5 billion

fully diluted valuation

Sept 13, 2023 Reuters first reports Arm has priced its

IPO at $51 apiece to raise $4.87 billion

Sept 13, 2023 Arm secures a $54.5 billion valuation in

its IPO

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Maju Samuel)

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