Das Logo des Chip-Herstellers Arm
Foto: Richard Drew / dpa
The initial public offering of the chip designer Arm, whose technology is present in virtually all smartphones, will generate around five billion dollars for its Japanese owner Softbank. Arm announced that the offering price for the shares has been set at 51 dollars, which is at the higher end of the price range of 47 to 51 dollars. Trading in New York is expected to commence this Thursday.
Aus der Preisspanne ergibt sich eine Bewertung von mehr als 54 Milliarden Dollar für Arm. Nach Informationen des Finanzdienstes Bloomberg peilte Softbank ursprünglich eine Gesamtbewertung von 60 bis 70 Milliarden Dollar an. Dennoch wird es der bisher größte Börsengang des Jahres in den USA sein.
After the IPO, Softbank still holds approximately 90 percent of Arm. Companies like Apple and Samsung utilize the processor designs created by Arm to develop processors for their smartphones. Qualcomm, a semiconductor company whose chips are used in many Android phones, also relies on Arm’s chip architectures. These companies pay royalties to Arm for using their chip designs.
Arm designs have become dominant in smartphones and tablet computers, surpassing Intel’s chip systems, partly due to their lower power consumption. Chips based on Arm architectures are now being used in data centers, and Apple utilizes them in their Mac computers.
Softbank hatte die britische Firma Arm 2016 für 32 Milliarden Dollar gekauft und von der Börse genommen. Ein Verkauf an den Chipkonzern Nvidia scheiterte im vergangenen Jahr an Bedenken von Wettbewerbshütern. Danach wurde der Börsengang beschlossen, dessen Erlös Softbank zugutekommen soll.