Tokyo
SoftBank Group Corp. said on Monday it has agreed to sell chip designer Arm to Nvidia Corp. for as much as $40 billion in a deal set to reshape the semiconductor landscape.
The deal puts a vital supplier to Apple Inc. and others across the industry under the control of a single player and will face potential pushback from regulators and Nvidia rivals. Nvidia will pay SoftBank $21.5 billion in shares and $12 billion in cash, including $2 billion on signing. The deal will see SoftBank and the $100 billion Vision Fund, which has a 25% stake in Arm, take a stake in Nvidia of between 6.7% and 8.1%.
SoftBank could also be paid an additional $5 billion in cash or shares depending on the chip designer’s business performance, with Arm employees to be paid $1.5 billion in Nvidia shares.