The rocky road for the acquisition of Arm Holdings by NVIDIA has taken another turn. It is still unknown if the deal will fall through, but multiple politicians in the U.K. are already calling for a contingency plan should it do so. There is now a push to get Softbank, the current owner of Arm Holdings, which is located in Japan, to list it on the London stock exchange.
If this were to come to pass, it would mean the company, valued at £30 billion or around $45 billion USD, would be publicly offered in the country where its home office is located. It would also be one of the largest companies listed on the FTSE 100 Index. Concerns over potential national security risks in letting the company be offered to yet another overseas entity have largely fueled the new push.
Arm is a leading British technology company of national strategic importance and a major local employer.
If it is floated on the stock market, it should do so in London rather than New York or elsewhere to ensure its interests and those of its investors are aligned with our national interest.
-Anthony Browne (Conservative MP for Cambridge South)
He was joined by Damian Green, who echoed that if Arm Holdings should be listed anywhere, it should be listed in London.
Arm Holdings is a world-beating British company that should stay British. I would very much hope that if it lists anywhere it does so in London.
-Damian Green (Tory MP for Ashford)
Mr. Browne also added that ownership of such strategically important companies matters. When concerns over national security risks arose, a full investigation into the matter was initiated by the U.K. government. It is still not known if the results of that investigation have driven regulators to reject the bid from NVIDIA.
Source: This is Money (via TechPowerUp)