SoftBank-owned Arm Holdings pursues record-breaking IPO in 2023
SoftBank-owned UK-based chip company Arm Holdings has filed for a NASDAQ listing, with ambitions to achieve the largest US IPO of 2023. The firm is planning to kick off its roadshow in early September and set the IPO price the following week, targeting a valuation between $60 billion and $70 billion. Leading the offering are Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho Financial Group, with an additional 24 underwriters participating.
SoftBank retains ownership, reduces target
Initially, Arm sought to raise $8 billion to $10 billion. However, SoftBank's decision to maintain more ownership after acquiring Vision Fund's stake may reduce that target. This transaction valued Arm at over $64 billion. Arm's technology plays a vital role in the chip industry, as it licenses an instruction set utilized in nearly every mobile chip and increasingly in PC and server chips.
Arm's tech powers major chip manufacturers
Companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Samsung manufacture Arm chips. Apple also incorporates Arm's technology in its iPhone chips. In fiscal 2023, over 30 billion chips were shipped containing Arm's technology. A successful IPO would provide a significant boost for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, whose Vision Fund experienced a record loss of $30 billion last year.
SoftBank's failed NVIDIA sale led to IPO
SoftBank initially attempted to sell Arm to NVIDIA. However, regulators expressed concerns regarding competition and national security. SoftBank acquired Arm for $32 billion in 2016 and subsequently took it private.
