SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son arrived in Seoul on Saturday after discussing the possibility of forming some sort of partnership with Samsung Electronics in the sale of Arm, a British chip designer.
The Korean-Japanese investor replied “business” when asked about the purpose of the visit, according to local media.
Arm, which is based in Cambridge, Britain, and was bought by SoftBank in 2016 for $32 billion, has been put up for sale by SoftBank. It is expected to list after a $40 billion acquisition by Nvidia failed due to regulatory issues.
Samsung Electronics vice president Lee Jae-yong said last month that Son “may have an offer” during his visit to Korea, without giving further details.
Son also touched on a potential “strategic alliance” for Arm with Samsung.
But market watchers predict that Samsung is unlikely to acquire the chip designer entirely on its own.
SoftBank’s 2020 mega-deal with Nvidia, a leading California-based graphics processing unit maker, fell through due to regulatory hurdles.
This fueled the view that Samsung, which would face the same regulatory challenge, could form a consortium for a joint deal or buy large blocks of Arm shares before it goes public.
BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [[email protected]]