It had been in the air for a few weeks, but this time Nvidia’s decision is final. A press release from Nvidia confirms the abandonment of the takeover of ARM. The case dates back to 2020, when Nvidia put nearly 40 billion dollars on the table to buy ARM from Japanese Softbank. Quickly, the regulators are interested in the file: the takeover could place Nvidia in a position far too dominant compared to its competitors. The FTC launches its investigation then files a complaint to block the takeover while the British increase the pressure.
The takeover seemed more and more compromised over the months and it was almost no surprise that we learned in January of this year that Nvidia was about to let go of the matter for good. Finally, the takeover is indeed cancelled. “The parties have agreed to terminate the agreement due to significant regulatory challenges preventing the completion of the transaction, despite the parties’ good faith efforts” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. Same story on the side of Softbank: “I want to thank Jensen and his talented team at NVIDIA for trying to bring these two great companies together and wish them much success” echoes Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank.
Note that Softbank would plan a stock market sale of ARM via an IPO, a way like any other to get rid of a company deemed useless in the new strategy of the Japanese operator.
