Administrator DKT27 Posted July 18, 2016 Administrator Share Posted July 18, 2016 Cambridge-based chip designer to be acquired by Japanese firm at a rate of £17 per share. ARM has today reached an agreement with Japan's SoftBank to be acquired at a cost of £24.3bn, subject to approval by shareholders. The world-renowned British firm, headquartered in Cambridge, has accepted an offer price of £17 per share, representing a 41.1 per cent premium on ARM's all-time high, and a 43 per cent premium on Friday's closing share price. ARM chairman Stuart Chambers described the acquisition as "a compelling offer for ARM shareholders, which secures the delivery of future value today and in cash." "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," he added. SoftBank's valuation is set to make this the biggest ever purchase of a British technology company, and the deal arrives just weeks after the UK voted to leave the EU, sending the value of the pound into free fall. Philip Hammond, the new chancellor, has been quick to welcome the deal, stating that "it shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to international investors. Britain is open for business - and open to foreign investment." "SoftBank's decision confirms that Britain remains one of the most attractive destinations globally for investors to create jobs and wealth. And as ARM's founders will testify, this is the greatest place in the world to start and grow a technology business." Founded in 1990 and home to over 300 employees, ARM's chip designs have become hugely popular in the majority of today's smartphones and smart home devices, resulting in ARM-designed chip shipments of 15 billion in 2015 alone. In an effort to allay any fears of a foreign takeover, SoftBank has made assurances to create more than 1,500 additional ARM jobs in the UK over the next five years, with no immediate plans to alter ARM's business model or brand. SoftBank chairman, Masayoshi Son, said: "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'. "This is one of the most important acquisitions we have ever made, and I expect ARM to be a key pillar of SoftBank’s growth strategy going forward." ARM Holdings' share price leapt by as much as 46 per cent at the opening of the London Stock Exchange, raising the firm's market value by almost £8bn. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batu69 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Quote But ARM Holdings doesn’t sell chips, they sell chip designs used by others to build ARM-based mobile processors. ARM customers include Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung -- between them manufacturers of a majority of the processors used today in handheld devices of all types. These three companies use ARM technology to build the processors for hundreds of millions of devices each year worth hundreds of billions of dollars. And of the three, only Samsung owns a fab. SoftBank covets the success of Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung. SoftBank covets even more the value of those companies -- value SoftBank sees as coming from ARM intellectual property. "Why should they get all the money?" thinks Mr. Son. What if ARM Holdings turned itself into Qualcomm? It wouldn’t take that much to do so. Both companies design mobile chips. Neither company owns a fab. It can be argued that most of the DNA in Qualcomm chips comes from ARM, anyway. Yet Qualcomm’s market cap today is $81 billion and SoftBank just got ARM for $32 billion. Why SoftBank is paying $32 billion for ARM Holdings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 One of the best high-tec firms is no longer British... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted July 19, 2016 Author Administrator Share Posted July 19, 2016 2 hours ago, pc71520 said: One of the best high-tec firms is no longer British... Yes indeed. But atleast a Japanese bought it. They too are known to be quite good with these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 19 hours ago, DKT27 said: Yes, indeed. But atleast a Japanese bought it. They too are known to be quite good with these things. Could have been worse... Spoiler Chinese ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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