SoftBank agrees to buy ARM for €29bn

Japan’s SoftBank Group has agreed to buy UK-based microchip company ARM Holdings for £24.3 billion (€29.1 billion).

Under the deal, ARM will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank – a telecoms and internet company that has operations spanning telecoms, e-commerce, internet and technology services.

ARM’s technology and processors are found in a large number of devices – including smartphones made by Samsung, Huawei and Apple – and the combined firm plans to focus in on the burgeoning IoT market.

“We have long admired ARM as a world renowned and highly respected technology company that is by some distance the market-leader in its field,” said SoftBank chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son.

“ARM will be an excellent strategic fit within the SoftBank group as we invest to capture the very significant opportunities provided by the Internet of Things.”

The agreed price marks a 43% premium on ARM’s closing share price on Friday and a 41.1% premium on the all-time high share price.

The companies said they have a “shared vision of pushing the limits of technology” and together will create more than 1,500 additional ARM jobs in the UK over the next five years, as well as adding to its headcount outside the UK.

The deal has been approved by SoftBank at a meeting of the firm’s board of directors and is subject to the approval of ARM’s shareholders and of the English court.

The companies expect the closing of the deal to occur “as soon as practicable” in the third quarter of this year.