Nvidia's $66bn Arm purchase collapses

The acquisition of the UK-based chipmaker collapsed late on Monday, leaving SoftBank to opt instead for a flotation of Arm by the end of March 2023. Arm replaced Chief Executive Simon Segars with Rene Haas, head of its intellectual property division. SoftBank will receive a $1.25bn break fee from Nvidia, the US technology group.

SoftBank, the Japanese technology investor, announced the sale, then worth $40bn, in 2020 but the deal came under intense regulatory scrutiny. Arm-designed chips are in most mobile devices, including Apple iPhones, and companies such as Microsoft and Qualcomm argued the purchase would give Nvidia an unfair advantage.

The US Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the deal in December on the grounds that Nvidia would become too powerful if it gained control over Arm’s chip designs. The UK competition regulator reported "serious competition concerns" about the deal in July and the British government ordered a full investigation in November.

China also raised concerns about the deal which has been hanging in the balance while Nvidia and SoftBank tried to convince regulators that it would not harm competition. Nvidia was reported to have concluded in January that the purchase would be scrapped.

"The parties agreed to terminate the agreement because of significant regulatory challenges preventing the consummation of the transaction, despite good faith efforts by the parties," the companies said. "Arm will now start preparations for a public offering."

SoftBank bought Arm in 2016 in a deal criticised in the UK for allowing a rare British technology leader to fall into foreign ownership. Arm is likely to float in New York rather than London, the Financial Times reported.