EU extends initial investigation into ARM acquisition and Nvidia offers concessions

The European Commission has extended its initial investigation into Nvidia’s ARM acquisition until October 27. Nvidia has also offered the EU to make concessions, although it is not clear what that would entail.

The European Commission reported in a filing this week that Nvidia has offered concessions, Bloomberg writes. The European Commission subsequently extended its deadline to decide on the deal to 27 October. The EU does not disclose exactly what concessions Nvidia has offered.

Reuters reports that customers and competitors of Nvidia and Arm will now have the opportunity to provide feedback on the acquisition before the European Commission decides whether to accept the concessions. If not, the EU could open a more in-depth four-month investigation.

Arm’s customers and Nvidia’s competitors have criticized the proposed acquisition in recent months. They fear, among other things, that Arm’s open licensing model will be compromised. Companies such as Microsoft, Google and Qualcomm have raised concerns with regulators.

Nvidia submitted the takeover proposal to the European Commission in early September. This allowed the EU to start its investigation into the takeover, after which it would issue a first ruling after a few weeks. The European Commission initially set a deadline of 13 October for this, although this has now been extended by two weeks.

In addition to the EU, competition authorities from several other countries are also investigating the takeover. The British market watchdog is critical of the takeover, and has previously indicated that it wants an in-depth investigation into its potential consequences. In early August, Bloomberg wrote that the UK may want to block the ARM takeover on the grounds of “potential risks to national security.” China’s market regulator is also investigating the acquisition. The Information previously wrote that China plans to “delay” the acquisition. Nvidia initially reported that the company aims to complete the Arm acquisition by March 2022, but it is not known whether this will succeed.