Arm breaks with London for $70bn Nasdaq listing

British chip manufacturer Arm has confirmed its plans to list on the US Nasdaq, in what is likely to be the biggest stock market float of 2023.

The decision is a blow to London, where Arm was listed for 18 years until it was bought by SoftBank in 2016 in a $32bn deal.

That deal received the minimum level of scrutiny by the government, leading to criticism it had allowed Britain's biggest tech success to be bought by foreign investors.

In its filing yesterday (22 August) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Cambridge-based Arm did not reveal the number of shares it was selling or the pricing of its offering.

Softbank's Arm dashes hopes for London listing as it opts for New York

Softbank bought a 25% stake in Arm last week that valued it at $64bn, returning money to its Vision Fund and potentially setting a floor for the valuation. 

Analysts at Redburn projected the deal was in the $37bn to $44bn range, while the total range could be anything between $19bn and $76bn, according to The Times.

Arm makes the designs for microchips and licences them to tech companies like Apple and Nvidia for a fee plus royalties on every chip manufactured, which are used in everything from smart phones to drones.

The company reported in the SEC filing its revenue was flat at just under $2.7bn in the year to the end of March. It reported $524m in net income and had a gross profit margin of 96%.

Nvidia considering anchor investor role for Arm - reports

Arm said that its technology was included in over 30 billion chips shipped in its last financial year.

SoftBank, the Japanese tech investor, will be hoping for great things from the Arm listing, the jewel in its crown, to offset a series of write downs including WeWork and FTX.

Tech giants Intel, Nvidia and Amazon, are reportedly be in talks with Arm to become anchor investors.

A total of 28 banks are lined up to underwrite the flotation, with Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Mizuho the leads, but critics warned the involvement of so many institutions leaves few to look critically at the deal.