NVIDIA’s purchase of ARM is one of the great soap operas of recent years. The deal that was gleefully announced in September 2020, in exchange for $40 billion, has yet to be finalized; and there is even speculation that it will never happen. Regulatory pressures in the United States and Britain have been key to the fate of a story that can’t seem to get out of the way, and with Americans ready to slam doors and cancel their buying intentions.
But now we have to add another ingredient to this messy recipe. We talk about pressure from British politicians to determine what ARM should do, if in the end NVIDIA didn’t buy it. Based on This is Money (through PC Gamers), the fate of the chip-designing company became very interesting for the arc of British politics.
According to the report, several members of the British Parliament have asked what arm go public and listed on the London Stock Exchange. If this materialized, the company would become one of the most important in the FTSE 100 index. However, the idea would not be too tempting for Softbank, the Japanese company that currently owns ARM, nor for the UK-based company itself.
It’s not clear whether NVIDIA will withdraw from the business, or whether it will burn its last cartridge to keep ARM. The only thing known so far is that the North American company will give up, but without any official confirmation in this regard. It stated that, if the sale failed, Softbank would analyze the face of the public offering for sale and go public; Although there are no real details about that either. Moreover, the Japanese will only consider it a secondary option.
ARM’s future is a matter of ‘national interest’ for British politicians
As we said at the beginning, The UK is one of the main opponents of the business that will leave ARM in the hands of NVIDIA. In fact, the authorities intervened in the purchase alleging not only a competition issue, but a national security issue as well. And the statements of some of the most conservative members of Britain’s political wing are starting to show the true face behind this story.
“ARM is a leading British technology company with national strategic interests and a major local employer. If it is going public, it should be in London, not New York or elsewhere, to ensure that its interests and those of its investors are aligned with our national interests.” said Anthony Browne.
Meanwhile, Damian Green, another member of the British Parliament, expressed himself with the same idea. “ARM Holdings is the world’s leading British company that should remain British. I really hope that if it gets listed it will do so in the UK. [la Bolsa de] London,” he said.
For now, it’s unknown what the true future of ARM will look like. If negotiations with NVIDIA really don’t come to fruition, Softbank should be prepared to a new wave of political pressure that will try to influence the definition of his future.
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