SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son said on Thursday he plans to meet with Samsung to discuss a possible “strategic alliance” between the South Korean tech giant and chip designer Arm.
“I would like to speak with Samsung about a strategic alliance with Arm,” Son said in a statement.
The statement comes after Samsung VP Jay Y. Lee’s comments to News1 that Son “might make a proposal” on a visit scheduled for next month.
Samsung did not comment on the report.
SoftBank acquired Arm, whose technology powers Apple’s iPhone and nearly every other smartphone, in 2016 for $32 billion.
Then, a deal to sell Arm to Nvidia aroused industry opposition and was canceled in the face of regulatory hurdles, prompting SoftBank to draw up plans for a US listing of the unit.
The visit comes amid speculation about the potential formation of an industrial consortium to invest in Arm and guarantee its neutrality.
“A potential proposal could be that companies interested in owning a stake in Arm can enter into a pre-IPO transaction at a lower price,” said Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities.
An alliance with Arm could be strategic for Samsung, which is a market leader in memory chips and invests heavily to try to catch up with TSMC in logic chips.
Other possible suitors for Arm include Intel, as the company’s chief executive, Pat Gelsinger, in February expressed an interest in joining a consortium to buy the chip designer.
Samsung rival SK Hynix has also expressed interest in Arm, according to Yonhap news agency.
Qualcomm, also cited as a potential investor, is being sued by Arm, which accuses it of breaching license agreements and trademark infringement.
Source: CNN Brasil
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