SoftBank Is in Talks to Buy Vision Fund’s Stake in Arm, Reuters Says

Susanne Barton, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. is in discussions to purchase the 25% stake in Arm Ltd. it doesn’t directly own from Vision Fund 1, the $100 billion investment fund it raised in 2017, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

If the negotiations lead to a deal, investors in the fund including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala would be positioned for an immediate windfall, Reuters said.

The chip designer is targeting an initial public offering at a valuation of between $60 billion and $70 billion as soon as September, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Several tech companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp., have held talks to become anchor investors in the IPO, people familiar with the matter have said.

Read more: SoftBank’s Arm Targets $60 Billion Value in September IPO

Raine Group is advising SoftBank on the negotiations, Reuters reported. Founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son recused himself from VF1’s deliberations on the matter so that the fund makes a decision independently in the interest of its investors, the people told the news service.

SoftBank, VF1 and Arm declined to comment to Reuters. Raine did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the news service.