Arm has secretly filed with U.S. regulators on Saturday to go public on the U.S. stock market, laying the groundwork for the largest initial public offering of the year, Reuters reported.
The IPO registration indicates that SoftBank is moving forward with a heavy offering despite unfavorable market conditions after saying in March that it planned to list on the U.S. stock market.
According to Dealogic, U.S. IPOs (excluding the listing of special purpose acquisition company SPAC) have fallen about 22 percent so far this year to a total of just $2.35 billion (currently about RMB 16.262 billion), as stock market volatility and economic uncertainty have discouraged many IPO hopefuls.
Arm plans to sell its shares on the Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise $8 billion to $10 billion (currently about 55.36 billion yuan to 69.2 billion yuan.) In a statement, Arm confirmed earlier reports of a planned IPO and said the size and price range of the offering had not yet been determined.
The exact timing and size of the IPO will depend on market conditions, warned the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is confidential.
SoftBank and Arm declined to comment.
SoftBank has been working to take Arm public since its sale to Nvidia last year for $40 billion (currently about 276.8 billion yuan) fell through amid opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators.
Earlier this year, Arm rejected a campaign by the U.K. government to list in London and said it would seek a listing on a U.S. exchange.
Arm’s IPO preparations are being led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Mizuho Financial Group.
