Softbank’s bid for UK chip designer Arm Holdings under the spotlight
A bumper earnings report from chip designer Arm Holdings is expected to shine a spotlight on the £24.3bn takeover bid from Japanese telecoms group Softbank.
Arm will report its second quarter results on Wednesday and it’s projected to record a 20 per cent jump in revenue to £275.5m, while pre-tax profits are thought to have climbed 10 per cent to £136m for the period. Softbank’s shareholders reacted with disappointment last week to news of the offer, sending shares down by some 10 per cent.
Softbank executives hope that a strong earnings report will justify the deal. Executives have promised to double Arm’s UK staff over the next five years and allow it to remain based in Cambridge.
The deal is set to go down as the second largest outbound Japanese deal on record.
Prime Minister Theresa May hailed the deal — the largest takeover of a British company by an Asian one — as a sign of confidence in the country after the UK voted to quit the European Union. However detractors pointed out much of Arm’s business is conducted abroad and its revenues are largely earned in dollars.