Is Nvidia withdrawing plans to acquire ARM?

Is Nvidia withdrawing plans to acquire ARM?

San Francisco, 1/31/2022

Nvidia is preparing to withdraw its plans to acquire British chip designer Arm. The chipmaker has hit hurdles in its attempt to get regulatory approval for the $40 billion deal, one of the largest ever in the semiconductor industry.

Japanese tech giant SoftBank agreed to sell Arm to Nvidia in September 2020. The acquisition was criticized by regulators, who argued that it would harm competition and give Nvidia an unfair advantage over its rivals.

Last year, the U.K. Competition Commission launched an in-depth investigation to examine antitrust and national security concerns. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also filed a complaint against the deal.

Nvidia has since told its partners that it does not expect the transaction to close. Softbank is now preparing to take Arm public as an alternative, but remains „hopeful that the transaction will be approved.“ Arm’s mobile processor architecture is used in more than 95% of Apple, Android and other smartphones.