Arm files for US initial public offering

SoftBank’s Arm Holdings announced the public filing of a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overnight, for its proposed initial public offering.

The silicon designer, whose chips power most smartphones, said it was seeking a listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ‘ARM’.

It was being advised by Raine Securities, with financial giants Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Mizuho serving as joint bookrunners.

The announcement was accompanied by reports of a 1% decrease in Arm’s annual revenue, which was put down to a deceleration in smartphone sales.

For the 12 months ended 31 March, the company's sales receded to $2.68bn amid a global downtrend in smartphone shipments, which also caused a 2.5% sales drop, amounting to $675m, in the quarter ended 30 June.

Market watchers suggested Arm's relatively mild revenue drop amid the smartphone slump suggested an uptick in its per-chip rates.

Over half of the firm's royalty revenue for the prior fiscal year emanated from smartphones and consumer electronics.

Details around the number of shares Arm intended to float and its projected valuation were not published, although Reuters had earlier suggested that SoftBank could release around 10% of its shares in the IPO, eyeing a valuation of between $60bn and $70bn.

Previously, Arm's objective was to procure between $8bn and $10bn through the IPO, although that could be revised downwards following SoftBank's acquisition of a 25% stake in Arm from the Saudi-backed Vision Fund earlier in August.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.