SoftBank’s Arm Confirms It Will Pursue US-Only Listing in IPO

Ian King, Bloomberg News

The SoftBank Corp. logo is displayed alongside notices indicating a change in closing time and for wearing protective masks when visiting a store on a glass door of a store in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. SoftBank Group forecast a record 1.35 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) operating loss for the fiscal year ended in March, a sign of how badly Masayoshi Son's bets on technology startups have been battered in recent months. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Arm Ltd. will pursue an initial public offering listing solely in the US, rejecting calls from the UK government to conduct a dual listing in its home market.

The SoftBank Group Corp.-owned chip technology seller will concentrate on a New York listing when it sells shares to the public, according to a statement Thursday. Arm is keeping its headquarters in Cambridge, England, and may consider a secondary listing in London down the road.

After engaging in talks with the British government and Financial Conduct Authority for several months, “SoftBank and Arm has determined that pursuing a US-only listing of Arm in 2023 is the best path forward for the company and its stakeholders,” Arm Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas said in the statement.

Arm’s decision, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report, is a blow to the UK’s attempt to keep its most prominent semiconductor company tied closely to its home base. Arm’s technology is found in most of the world’s smartphones and is becoming more pervasive across the electronics industry.

Tokyo-based SoftBank spent $32 billion to buy the business in 2016. At the time, it promised UK regulators that it would create more jobs there and not move the headquarters.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had pushed the company to list on the London Stock Exchange. But Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s founder, has pointed to the deeper investor base in the US and more attractive valuations.

In a sign of its commitment to the UK, Arm will add a new site in the city of Bristol in the southwest of England that will help it add to its headcount, Haas said in the statement.

(Updates with Arm plan for new site in UK in final paragraph.)