SoftBank Group (SFTBY) -) plans to build the market for its public offering of Arm, the chipmaker it plans to list on the Nasdaq, at a price that would value the group at more than $50 billion.
SoftBank said in Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday that it will set the IPO price for Arm, at least during initial talks with major investors, at between $47 and $51 per share, a level that would translate to an overall market value of between $50 billion and $54 billion.
That would make Arm's listing on the Nasdaq the biggest IPO since Rivian Automotive in 2021. Still, it would represent a significant reduction to the $64 billion valuation Arm carried earlier this year when SoftBank arranged to buy the 25% stake in the chipmaker that it didn't directly own from the Saudi Arabia-backed Vision Fund.
The IPO will likely sell 95.5 million shares and raise around $4.87 billion, if the current price range holds, with Japan-based SoftBank holding around 90.6% of Arm's ordinary shares upon completion.
SoftBank, which failed to complete a $40 billion sale of the U.K-based chipmaker to Nvidia (NVDA) -) last year amid pushback from competition authorities in the U.S. and Europe, spurned the British government in March by opting to pursue a U.S.-only listing.
London's Financial Times has reported Nvidia is being asked to take a long-term stake in Arm, alongside U.S. rival Intel (INTC) -), that could be valued in the region of $35 billion to $40 billion.
Bloomberg reported over the weekend that key Arm customers such as Apple (AAPL) -), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) -) and Samsung, along with Nvidia and Intel, have been tapped as strategic investors in an early autumn IPO, which could come as early as Sept. 13.
Cambridge, U.K.-based Arm is also expected to report full-year financials, based on the 12 months ended in March, as part of its SEC filing, with reports suggesting a revenue tally of around $2.7 billion.
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