NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp.’s chipmaker Arm Ltd. (9984.T) has confidentially applied to regulators for a listing on the U.S. stock exchange, people familiar with the matter said Saturday, setting the stage for the year’s biggest public offering.
While SoftBank announced in March that it would list Arm on the US stock exchange, the company’s IPO registration shows it is moving forward with the blockbuster offering despite adverse market conditions.
U.S. IPOs, excluding special purpose acquisition vehicle listings, are up about 22% to total just $2.35 billion, according to Dealogic.
Arm plans to sell its Nasdaq stake later this year to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, the sources said.
The sources warned that the exact timing and size of the IPO is subject to market conditions and asked not to be identified as the matter is confidential.
SoftBank and Arm declined to comment.
There are signs that the IPO market is starting to thaw. Johnson & Johnson Inc (JNJ.N) is preparing to list its healthcare company Kenvue Inc (KVUE.N) in New York next week in hopes of raising about $3.5 billion.
SoftBank has been targeting a public listing for Arm since its deal to sell the chip designer to Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) for $40 billion collapsed last year amid objections from US and European antitrust authorities.
Since then, Arm’s business has outperformed the broader chip industry as it focuses on data center servers and PCs, which generate higher licensing fees. The company said revenue rose 28% in its most recent quarter.
Arm’s IPO is expected to boost fortunes for SoftBank, which is struggling to reverse its huge Vision Fund, which has suffered losses due to falling valuations of many of its holdings in tech startups.
Earlier this year, Arm dismissed a UK government campaign to list its shares in London and said it would seek an IPO on a US stock exchange.
Preparations for Arm’s IPO are being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Barclays (BARC.L) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T).
Reporting by Anirban Sen and Echo Wang in New York; additional reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Oatis
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