Mostly ARMless, The NVIDIA Deal To Acquire ARM From Softbank Is No More

ARM Does Get A New CEO, Rene Haas

The soap opera continues, but is going back to an old story line.  NVIDIA has decided to withdraw their offer to buy ARM, rather than continue to spend money working to overcome the legal hurdles various countries have raised because of the possible buyout.  We will never know if Jen Hsun’s promise to leave ARM’s business model untouched would have been kept, but then again it is no longer a concern.  Softbank, current owners of ARM have reacted to this by announcing an IPO for ARM.

The rumour is that they will choose to take ARM public in the USA, though this has yet to be confirmed and could face some internal challenges.  Rene Hass has taken over as CEO of ARM from Simon Segars, but there is a bit of a twist to this story which those familiar with ARM should be familiar with.  

In 2020, ARM Chairman and CEO Allen Wu was fired by the board but the thing is, he didn’t leave.  Instead he fired most of the people the board appointed to take over the executive branch and he continues to run whatever operations of ARM he can maintain control over.  The legal battle to forcibly remove him and reinstate those he fired after he was officially fired continues.  There is a possibility that Wu will fight the public launch of ARM on the NASDAQ or whichever US based exchange they chose, which could lead to even more legal finagling. 

This would not be good for Softbank whose holdings, apart from ARM, have not fared well during the pandemic and have left it a little short on revenue.  A long battle to prevent the public launch of ARM could have serious consequences for the holding company.  Stay tuned for more on this story, as it is likely to develop over the coming months.