- On Friday, Arm, the chip designer owned by Japan's SoftBank, announced it will only pursue a U.S. listing this year, disappointing the British government who had hoped the tech giant would make a return to the London stock market. The company did not totally discount the possibility of a London listing, stating that it intends to contemplate a future IPO there when the time is appropriate.
- Arm, which designs the processor technology found in almost every smartphone, has been sold to companies such as Apple (AAPL) and Qualcomm (QCOM). London put in a great deal of effort to secure the listing, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Arm Chief Executive Rene Haas gathering in Downing Street last month, according to reports. It is said that SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son participated in the meeting via video conference.
Why it matters
This news is a setback for London, as Arm had been listed there for 18 years before it was purchased by SoftBank in 2016 in a $32 billion deal that was only given minimal scrutiny by the government, inciting criticism that it had allowed Britain's most successful tech company to be owned by foreign investors. This follows CRH's decision, a Dublin-based building materials company, to switch their primary listing from London to the United States on Thursday.
