SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) is in discussions to purchase the 25% stake in Arm Holdings (ARMHF) it doesn’t currently own from Vision Fund 1, the $100 billion investment fund it started in 2017.
If talks lead to an agreement, major VF1 investors, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, would see an immediate windfall, according to a Reuters report on Sunday, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The report comes as SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY), which owns a 75% stake in Arm, is planning an IPO for the chip designer on the Nasdaq as soon as next month. Arm is seeking to raise $8 billion to $10 billion in an IPO.
The exact valuation of Arm that the parties are discussing for their transaction could not be learned, according to the Reuters report. If a deal is reached, SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) would be selling fewer Arm (ARMHF) shares in the IPO and would likely retain a stake of between 85% and 90%.
SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) has been pushing to take Arm (ARMHF) public since its sale to Nvidia (NVDA) collapsed and its plans for a London listing were scrapped last year.