NEW YORK, March 5 – Arm Ltd, the British chip designer owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), is likely to aim to make at least $8 billion this year, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Arm is expected to file filing for its IPO in late April in confidence, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the talks are confidential. The listing is set to take place later this year and the exact timing will be determined by market conditions, the sources added.
SoftBank has selected four investment banks to lead what is likely to be the most prominent IPO in recent years. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Barclays (BARC.L) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) are expected to be the lead underwriters for the deal, the sources said. In addition, no bank has yet been selected for the coveted Lead Left position.
The Australian Financial Review reported on the leading banks earlier on Sunday.
last update
Watch 2 more stories
Preparations for the IPO are expected to start in the US in the coming days, the sources said. The valuation range has not yet been finalized, but the Cambridge, England-based arm hopes to be valued at more than $50 billion during its share sale, the sources said.
A board from ARM and SoftBank Group brands is displayed at a news conference in London, Britain July 18, 2016. Portal/Neil Hall/File Photo
Barclays, JPMorgan and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Arm, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho all declined to comment.
A successful listing of Arm this year would give a boost to the IPO market, which has largely been frozen since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered market volatility and a huge sell-off in tech stocks.
The IPO market briefly revived last month when a number of companies including solar technology company Nextracker Inc (NXT.O) and Chinese sensor maker Hesai Group (HSAI.O) listed their shares on US exchanges, but investors remain cautious bets on new stocks.
IPO advisors do not expect the capital markets to fully recover until the second half of this year. Continue reading
Arm said last week it would seek a US-only listing this year, dashed UK government hopes that the tech giant would return to the London Stock Exchange. Continue reading
SoftBank has been targeting a listing for Arm since its deal to sell the chip designer to Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) for $40 billion collapsed last year amid objections from US and European antitrust authorities.
Reporting by Echo Wang and Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham
Our standards: The Trust Principles.