Rumor: Nvidia has decided to cancel the acquisition of Arm

In September 2020, Nvidia announced the purchase of Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion in cash and stock, initially planned to be completed within 18 months, in March 2022. However, with the doubts and objections of all parties and the stricter scrutiny of relevant regulatory agencies, it was forced to choose to postpone it until September 2022. However, with the end of 2021, after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reviewed and assessed, it is believed that NVIDIA has the means and motivation to “stifle the next generation of innovative technologies” after acquiring Arm, which has damaged competition in the global market in many ways, giving NVIDIA a heavy blow.

It was reported last month that Nvidia was preparing to abandon the acquisition of Arm due to the difficulty of obtaining relevant regulatory approvals for the deal. At the same time, Nvidia announced the establishment of a CPU design and engineering team in Israel, which seems to herald a new direction on the road to CPU.

According to the Financial Times report, through the mutual confirmation of the news of three anonymous people with “direct knowledge of the transaction”, it is confirmed that Nvidia has canceled the acquisition of Arm. However, under the previous agreement, Nvidia still has to pay SoftBank $1.25 billion in fees. Arm’s management has also been in turmoil as the deal fell through, with chief executive Simon Segars leaving to be replaced by intellectual property chief Rene Hass.

At present, Nvidia, Arm, and Softbank officials have not responded to media reports, confirming that the transaction has been canceled, which may be announced after waiting for a suitable time point. The U.K. is pushing Arm to list on the London Stock Exchange recently, and an IPO, which has been SoftBank and Arm’s backup plan for deal failure, may already be on this path.