As anticipation builds, Arm has released more pricing details ahead of what is to be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) of the year.<\/p>\n
The chip designer filed an\u00a0updated F1 filing\u00a0with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 5. The firm will list 95.5 million ordinary shares under the ticker \u201cARM,\u201d targeting a price range between $47 and $51.<\/p>\n
Although the company has not specified an exact date for the IPO, it is widely expected within this month.\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0earlier reported arm management would likely price its shares on September 13, with trading to occur the following day.\u00a0IPOScoop also lists\u00a0its expected launch date as September 14.<\/p>\n
There is a lot of buzz building on Wall Street around Arm\u2019s IPO, mainly owing to the firm\u2019s focus on microchips and semiconductors used in artificial intelligence (A.I.), the burgeoning technology that has driven much of this year\u2019s stock rally.<\/p>\n
Arm has long been dominant in the semiconductor industry. The firm claims that its eponymous computer processing unit (CPU) architecture is the world\u2019s most widely used computing architecture. \u201cOur CPU designs have the world\u2019s richest software ecosystem, built in partnership with the leading operating systems provider(s),\u201d reads its prospectus.<\/p>\n
Arm is coming off the back of strong sales numbers. The firm reached record revenues totaling $2.8 billion last year, with its sales growing 5.7% in the year to March.<\/p>\n
The public floating of Arm is part of a revival effort by Softbank. The world\u2019s largest venture capital fund has been hit hard by\u00a0staggering losses\u00a0in recent years.<\/p>\n
Arm has proven to be one of\u00a0Softbank\u2019s most successful acquisitions. The firm, which profits from licensing its proprietary technology to chip makers, has expanded its revenue by around 70% since 2016, when Softbank took it over.<\/p>\n
Some of its other big bets have been catastrophic flops, such as\u00a0WeWork, now synonymous with the excesses of tech bro bravado and Silicon Valley\u2019s utopianism.<\/p>\n
In shoring up its imminent launch, Softbank has invited some of Arm\u2019s biggest customers to get in on the deal. Apple, Nvidia, Intel, and Samsung Electronics are all\u00a0confirmed as strategic investors.<\/p>\n
Yet the lion\u2019s share will remain with Softbank. The fund plans to retain 90% of Arm\u2019s shares, it said in the filing. Due to this unwillingness to float more of the company\u2019s ownership, the deal will likely fall just short of $5 billion, although it had\u00a0previously been expected\u00a0to reach almost double that.<\/p>\n
Despite this, it will still be the biggest deal of the year. Johnson & Johnson\u2019s spinoff Kenvue Inc., the next largest listing so far in 2023, hit $4.37 billion in May.<\/p>\n
Investors won\u2019t have to wait much longer to grasp this deal \u2013 Arm is almost within reach.<\/p>\n