NEW YORK – Arm Limited, the British chip designer owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group, is likely to aim to raise at least US$8 billion (S$10.8 billion) from what is expected to be a blockbuster US stock market launch this year, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Arm is expected to confidentially submit paperwork for its initial public offering (IPO) in late April, the sources said. The listing is expected to happen later in 2023 and the exact timing will be determined by market conditions, they added.
SoftBank has picked four investment banks to lead what is expected to be the most high-profile stock market flotation in recent years. Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Barclays and Mizuho Financial Group are expected to be the lead underwriters for the deal, the sources said, adding that no bank has been picked for the much-coveted position yet.
The preparations for the IPO are expected to be kick-started in the United States in the coming days, the sources said. The valuation range has not yet been finalised but Arm, which is based in Cambridge, England, is hoping to be valued at more than US$50 billion during its share sale, they added.
Barclays, JPMorgan and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Arm, Goldman Sachs and Mizuho declined to comment.
A successful listing for Arm this year will provide a boost to the IPO market, which has been largely frozen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered market volatility and a huge sell-off in technology stocks.
The IPO market briefly flickered back to life in February as a number of companies, including solar tech firm Nextracker and Chinese sensor-maker Hesai Group, listed their shares on US stock exchanges, but investors still remain wary of betting on new stocks.
IPO advisers are not expecting a full-blown recovery in capital markets until the latter half of this year.
Arm said last week it would pursue a US-only listing this year, dashing the British government’s hopes that the tech giant would return to the London stock market.
SoftBank has been pursuing a listing for Arm since its deal to sell the chip designer to Nvidia for US$40 billion collapsed last year because of objections from US and European antitrust regulators. REUTERS
