LSE lobbying for London listing of SoftBank’s Arm

21 Jul, 2022

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group Plc is lobbying for a UK listing of SoftBank-owned chip technology firm Arm Ltd, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing the bourse’s Chief Executive Officer Julia Hoggett.

SoftBank has put on hold plans for a London initial public offering (IPO) for Arm - which supplies intellectual property in chips that power most of the world’s smartphones - because of the political turmoil in the UK government, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Hoggett said that there is a “very compelling” case for Arm to have a dual primary listing in the UK, according to the Bloomberg report.

SoftBank’s billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, had told shareholders in June that he was in favor of a U.S. listing as most of British-based chip designer’s clients are based there.

SoftBank acquired Cambridge, England-based Arm for $32 billion in 2016.

LSE and SoftBank did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, holds a minority stake in the London Stock Exchange Group following the exchange’s deal with Refinitiv.

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