Several of Arm Holdings Ltd’s clients have agreed to invest in the chip designer’s initial public offering, including Apple Inc. (AAPL.O), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD.O).
According to the sources, Intel Corp (INTC.O), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS.O), and Synopsys Inc (SNPS.O) have also decided to take part in the offering as investors. Other potential investors are also in discussions to invest in the IPO, the sources indicated, and the discussions are still ongoing.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), the company that owns the British company Arm, was aiming for a valuation of $50 billion to $55 billion. According to the sources, Arm’s clients have consented to invest in that valuation range.
The reduction indicates a climb-down from the $64 billion value at which SoftBank acquired the 25% stake in the firm it did not already own from its $100 billion Vision Fund last month. It is possible that demand for Arm’s shares will lead to a higher valuation by the time the IPO prices.
According to the sources, Apple, Nvidia, and the other key investors have each committed to investing between $25 million and $100 million in the wildly successful IPO. According to Reuters, 10% of the shares to be sold in the IPO have been put aside by Arm and SoftBank for their clients.
One of the individuals said Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), which had previously held discussions to invest in the IPO, has opted not to take part. The source asked to remain anonymous because the discussions are private.
Arm’s commitment to not taking a position in the chip business is being put to the test by a stampede among its clients, who include the greatest technological companies in the world, to purchase shares in the IPO.
According to Reuters, the demand is being stoked by businesses’ desire to deepen their business ties with Arm and prevent competitors from gaining an advantage.
Even if an investment in the IPO wouldn’t grant the investor a position on Arm’s board or the authority to direct strategy, it might fortify relationships with the other participating businesses and make it more difficult for a rival to buy Arm in the future.
Requests for comment from Arm and SoftBank did not receive an instant response.
Nvidia, Synopsys, AMD, Intel, and Intel declined to comment. Requests for comment from Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, and Cadence were not immediately fulfilled. On Friday morning, The Wall Street Journal published an article about Arm’s target valuation.
