Last week, we published a story about how NVIDIA had shown interest in purchasing UK-based semiconductor and software design company Arm. That sounded like hot air at the time, but Bloomberg has followed up on its initial report with a new article that suggests green team is seriously considering an acquisition. In fact, a deal could be announced very soon.
“The two parties aim to reach a deal in the next few weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private,” wrote Bloomberg. “Nvidia is the only suitor in concrete discussions with SoftBank, according to the people.”
“A deal for Arm could be the largest ever in the semiconductor industry, which has been consolidating in recent years as companies seek to diversify and add scale,” Bloomberg added. “But any deal with Nvidia, which is a customer of Arm, would likely trigger regulatory scrutiny as well as a wave of opposition from other users.”
If NVIDIA does follow through (and the regulators allow the company to get away with it), the price of the deal should be quite mind blowing. According to New Street Research LLP, Arm could be worth $44 billion if it pursues an initial public offering next year – a figure that’s expected to rise to $68 billion by 2025.