SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son
(Picture: REUTERS)ARM Holdings, we are told, is going to New York.
SoftBank, its Japanese owner, is planning to list the chip designer in the US because of the favourable valuations over there. But will it actually end up on Wall Street?
SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son was planning to sell ARM to Nvidia until he wasn’t. The deal was derailed by national security concerns, loud opposition from ARM co-founder Hermann Hauser and stock market volatility.
There’s no reason why ARM’s path couldn’t be altered once again. Politicians, the technorati and the press should do everything possible to woo the Cambridge chip-maker back to London.
ARM, a rare British tech success story, was listed on the LSE until 2016 when SoftBank bought it. The business has only become more significant in the intervening years.
A comeback would not only be a riposte to criticism of the London market as an ageing “Jurassic Park” full of sleepy, old-world businesses; it would also help secure Britain’s future success by achoring an important industry here for the foreseeable future.
What can be done to get the company here? A charm offensive is required.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be plotting to restart trade talks with China. That’s a risky startegy in the current climate. The lower hanging fruit is in Japan.
Sunak should hop on a plane and go see the famously impulsive Son. Make the case for ARM in London. He might catch him on a good day.
