Nvidia is officially pulling the plug on its planned purchase of Arm from SoftBank.
Details: SoftBank confirmed the news in a statement Tuesday announcing plans for an initial public offering for Arm within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.
- Arm said in a statement CEO Simon Segars was leaving his role, effective immediately. Rene Haas, president of the company's IP group and former Nvidia vice president, is taking over the position.
- "Rene is the right leader to accelerate Arm's growth as the company looks to re-enter the public markets," said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in a statement.
Why it matters: There had been significant concerns from both regulators and several of Arm's current customers, per the Financial Times, which first reported on the collapse.
- While it doesn't manufacture processors, or even design entire chips, Arm's processor cores are widely used in everything from smartphones to cars to networking gear.
Catch-up quick: Nvidia, which is among the companies that sell chips based on Arm's designs, had promised to keep the British company's open licensing model, but that wasn't enough to shake concerns that the technology would be in uncertain hands if controlled by a chipmaker that relied on its designs.
- Nvidia first announced its plans to buy Arm in Sept. 2020.
- SoftBank acquired Arm in 2016. Before that, Arm was an independent, publicly traded company.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the termination.
