Aug 2 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp will keep a
stake in its chip company Arm Holdings Ltd, even if it sells
part of it to Nvidia Corp or through an initial public
offering, the Nikkei Asian Review reported https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/SoftBank2/SoftBank-to-maintain-stake-in-Arm-after-partial-sale.
The Japanese conglomerate is currently negotiating terms
with Nvidia after receiving an approach last month, the report
said, citing an unidentified source familiar with the matter,
adding that it is possible that SoftBank would take stake in
Nvidia after it bought Arm.
The report did not mention how much stake the company will
retain in Arm.
SoftBank did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that SoftBank
was exploring options including a full or partial sale or public
offering of Arm.
SoftBank acquired the British chip designer for $32 billion
in 2016, its largest-ever purchase, in part to expand into the
internet of things, which connects everyday devices from traffic
signals to refrigerators to the internet.
In March, it unveiled a 4.5 trillion yen ($42.50 billion)
plan to buy back shares and reduce debt.
Under the plan the group has been selling down core assets
including stakes in Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group
Holding and U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc
.
A sale would not be part of group’s asset monetization
program, Nikkei reported.
($1 = 105.8800 yen)
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Mike
Harrison)