Leading GPU maker Nvidia may acquire ARM: Report

As the rumours surrounding Nvidia’s ambitions to buy ARM have been gaining steam, sources say a takeover is on course to be completed by the end of summer.

Apple's recent announcement to make the switch from Intel to ARM was arguably one of the biggest announcements of the year, making ARM a major player in the silicon sphere.

ARM is a Cambridge-headquartered chip designer owned by SoftBank, the Japanese telecommunication giant. ARM was first put on sale in April when Goldman Sachs was hired to sound out buyers.

Now, as per an exclusive report by the UK’s Evening Standard, Nvidia is ahead of the pack in the race to acquire ARM, and is expected to close on a deal by the end of the summer.

The report suggests that SoftBank’s Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son is demanding a fee as high as 40 billion pounds ($52 billion) for ARM. To recall, SoftBank paid $32 billion to acquire ARM in 2016.

The UK government will be keeping a close eye on this deal as ARM committed to retain its UK headquarter and to increase its domestic workforce as part of the deal in 2016.

Considering Nvidia is headquartered in the US, it is unclear whether the previous measures would remain in place in the event of an acquisition by Nvidia.

ARM currently licenses its technologies to a number of the world’s leading tech giants, including Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, and TSMC, among others. The fact that many of these tech companies already compete with Nvidia could raise several issues, especially if the team green chooses to increase licensing cost after the acquisition of ARM.