Now it’s official — The British chip developer ARM is going to the US processor and graphics card manufacturer Nvidia for 40 billion US dollars. As part of the takeover, Nvidia promises that ARM will retain its license model and remain “neutral.”
After the takeover, Softbank wants to work for the long-term success of ARM. The Japanese company will receive a stake in Nvidia, which is expected to be less than 10 percent. Softbank acquired ARM in the summer of 2016 for $32 billion.
The acquisition has been approved by boards of directors at Nvidia, Softbank, and ARM. The advertised amount with a combination of cash and shares. 21.5 billion will be paid in shares of Nvidia, and another 12 billion dollars will be paid in cash. Of the latter, $2 billion will be paid at the time the purchase agreement is signed.
The acquisition by Nvidia requires the approval of the relevant authorities in the US, the European Union, the UK, and China. The companies expect this to happen within 18 months.
The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, said that ” the ARM business model is brilliant. We will continue to maintain its open license model and client neutrality, serving clients in any industry and around the world.”
In addition, the ARM will continue to operate from its headquarters in Cambridge independently. At the same time, Nvidia will be able to develop its Artificial Intelligence platform further and make it reach more applications and devices.
Softbank and ARM want to meet all obligations from the acquisition of ARM on time, the fulfillment of which was planned by 2021.
