After weeks of speculation, Nvidia announced that it had agreed to buy SoftBank’s ARM for $ 40 billion, making it the largest chipmaker deal in history.
The deal was announced late Sunday. Nvidia will pay ARM $ 12 billion in cash, with $ 2 billion outstanding when the deal is signed. Nvidia will need to spend $ 21.5 billion in inventory. ARM employees will receive $ 1.5 billion in Nvidia stock.
“Artificial intelligence is the most powerful technological force of our time and has unleashed a new wave of computing,” said Jensen Huang, founder, and CEO of NVIDIA. “In the coming years, trillions of AI computers will create a new Internet of things thousands of times larger than today’s Internet. Our combination will make a company in a great place for the AI era.”
“This combination has tremendous benefits for both our companies, our customers and the industry,” Huang said. “For the arm ecosystem, consolidation will charge Arm’s research and development capabilities and expand its IP portfolio with NVIDIA’s world-leading GPUs and AI technology.
ARM will live in Cambridge, UK. Huang says the facility will be expanded into a “world-class AI research facility” with the aim of attracting researchers from all over the world.
Nvidia plans to build an artificial intelligence supercomputer powered by ARM technologies.
SoftBank acquired ARM in 2016 for $ 32 billion. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was working on the mega-deal with a small team of executives including ARM CEO Simon Segar, CFO Yoshimso Goto, Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Mishra, and CEO of Vision Fund Akshay. Nahita.
SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said, “NVIDIA is the right partner for RM.” “Since the acquisition of Arm, we have fulfilled our commitment and invested heavily in people, technology, research, and development, thus expanding the business into new areas with high growth potential. A world of technological innovation Joining forces with the leader creates new and exciting opportunities for Arm. It is a compelling combination that makes Arm. Cambridge and the UK are at the forefront of some of the most exciting technological innovations of our time and this is why SoftBank RWA Ko is eager to invest in Arm’s long-term success as a major contributor. We look forward to supporting the continued success of our joint business. “
While the deal has been approved by the boards of ARM, SoftBank, and Nvidia, the deal is not final. You need to remove regulatory barriers not only in the US but also in China, the European Union, and the UK. The deal could face regulatory hurdles, as ARM licenses its technology to several other companies, including Apple, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, and requires Nvidia to control its critical licenses, leading to a lot of critics’ questions. Must be closed.
Initial reports of potential sales of ARM claimed that Apple had been approached for a possible role in the acquisition. As Apple licenses the architecture of the ARM chip used in the A-Series SoCs, it appears plausible that Apple had a stake, but reporting sources indicated that it would be unsuitable for the rest of the company’s business structure.
While the A-Series processors and Apple Silicon are based on ARM, Apple does not require ARM as a standalone unit to develop the processor. In all likelihood, looking at ARM sales, Apple will move back and forth compared to “vanilla” ARM, as now is the time.
The purchase of ARM by Nvidia will give the graphics chip maker access to more patents and intellectual property to enhance its own offerings, as well as give itself more openness to deepen processor sales.
Nvidia will provide more information about the deal Monday evening in a conference call.
