Japanese telecoms giant Softbank to buy UK chip designer for 31 bln USD

Japan's Softbank said on Monday that it will buy British semiconductor company ARM Holdings for about 31 billion U.S. dollars, the largest ever purchase of overseas business for the telecoms giant.

Both parties reached agreement on the all-cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of ARM by Softbank, according to the announcement.

Under the agreement, Softbank will acquire 1.41 billion shares of ARM with a total acquisition price amounting to approximately 3.3 trillion yen (about 31 billion U.S. dollars).

As a result, ARM will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Softbank, said the Japanese telecommunications supplier.

The companies expect the closing of the acquisition to occur by the end of September.

"Softbank intends to invest in ARM, support its management team, accelerate its strategy and allow it to fully realise its potential beyond what is possible as a publicly listed company," said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank.

"It is also intended that ARM will remain an independent business within Softbank, and continue to be headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom," said Son.

Founded in 1990, ARM designs microprocessors, physical intellectual property and related technology and software, and sells development tools to deliver the intelligence in applications ranging from sensors to servers, including smartphones, tablets, enterprise infrastructure and the Internet of things.

The company licenses and sells its technology and products to electronics companies. Endit