Chancellor resumes efforts to woo Arm away from Nasdaq listing
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has resumed the UK Government’s efforts to woo Cambridge-based chip maker Arm away from a New York listing and back to London.
Zahawi – who was appointed Chancellor following Rishi Sunak’s resignation in early July – has reportedly contacted Masayoshi Son, chief executive of Arm’s parent company SoftBank.
SoftBank was in talks with former investment and tech ministers Lord Grimstone and Chris Philp when they stepped down amid the UK’s political trouble.
The holding then paused negotiations and, sources told the Sunday Times, these have yet to resume.
This is a sign that any attempts to woo the chip maker away from a New York listing is not going to be easy.
Arm was listed in London until it was bought in 2016 by SoftBank in a £24bn deal.
The chip company was swayed to list in the US in the aftermath of Nvidia’s abandoning a £32bn takeover, the Sunday Times reported.
SoftBank’s Son also favours a listing on the Nasdaq, as tech firms typically garner higher valuations due to a deeper pool of tech investors.
The LSE, which would suffer a big reputational blow if Arm were to float in the US, said on 21 July the cause was not yet lost.
“I want to win every single offering that I can do and I also feel very strongly there is a very compelling case for Arm to have a dual premium listing in the UK,” LSE boss Julia Hoggett explained.
“We should absolutely fight for anything that we think we have a compelling strategy to propose.”
Morning Wire has approached the Treasury and SoftBank for comment.