‘Nvidia is in advanced talks with SoftBank about acquisition of Arm’

Nvidia is reportedly in advanced talks with SoftBank regarding the acquisition of Arm. GPU manufacturer Nvidia would be the only serious bidder at the moment and would have more than 27 billion euros for chip designer Arm.

According to financial news agency Bloomberg, the parties want to reach a deal in the coming weeks. Last week it was already rumored that Nvidia wants to take over Arm; now sources say talks are well advanced. The British chip designer is currently owned by the Japanese SoftBank.

Bloomberg’s sources also note that decisions have not yet been made and negotiations could still stall. SoftBank could still gauge interest from other interested parties if it fails to reach a deal with Nvidia.

Financial Times sources also provide details on the takeover talks. They say the talks have started in recent months and that Nvidia has approached SoftBank. According to FT’s sources, there are still a number of issues surrounding the deal that need to be resolved.

The amount involved in the acquisition is not yet known. Nvidia would like to pay more than the 24.3 billion pounds that SoftBank deposited in 2016 to get Arm. Currently, that is about 27 billion euros. Nvidia, SoftBank and Arm have not responded to the reporting.

If Nvidia actually wants to acquire Arm, that acquisition will likely be scrutinized by regulators and competition authorities. Nvidia and Arm are active in the same industry and Nvidia is currently Arm customer. Many companies currently depend on the licenses they purchase from Arm to make chips.