SoftBank to Acquire ARM Holdings for $31.4 billion

SoftBank has offered to buy ARM Holdings, a British chip designer, for a staggering £23.4 billion, or $31.4 billion. That is the highest price for which a European tech company was ever sold. This price is especially surprising given the fact that the deal went down after the UK exited the European Union a few weeks back. Just after the Brexit, the value of the pound dropped exponentially. According to the Financial Times, the British company’s increased global significance was the one to protect ARM from the significant drop of the state’s currency.

Even though ARM isn’t as large a tech company as intel, the chip designer is a significant player on the market, so SoftBank’s decision to purchase it is definitely not a bad investment. The British chip designer managed to license its technology to major companies, like Apple and Samsung, making it even more appealing for SoftBank or other investors. ARM pulled off shipping 15 billion chips, which is an increase of 3 billion chips compared to the previous year. Given the fact that SoftBank purchased a number of other tech companies over the past few years, it’s safe to state that the revenue of the Japanese company has risen a lot. It is currently the third biggest carrier in Japan.

The Japanese company might have separated its business in two, in order to protect the Japanese part of the business, earlier this year, but its Asian part is definitely growing and gaining territory. With the addition of ARM and its business partners, the company might see an amazing growth in the following years. Even though the majority of businesses owned by SoftBank are related to telecommunications, and carriers, the acquisition of ARM will put the company on the chip market also. The British company has proven that they are capable of delivering good quality chips for smartphones, and if SoftBank plays its cards right, it’s possible that we will be a hearing a lot more of the Japanese company in the years to come.