Qualcomm Looks To Buy Stake In Arm In IPO

Qualcomm has reiterated it would like a stake in Arm and help create a consortium that would keep the Brit chip designer neutral, or out of the hands of any single chip company at least.

The latest development in the Arm IPO saga comes from Qualcomm’s chief executive, Cristiano Amon, who told the Financial Times that his company was interested in investing in Arm, and that Qualcomm could join forces with other chipmakers to buy Arm outright from owner SoftBank.

“It’s a very important asset and it’s an asset which is going to be essential to the development of our industry,” Amon said.

Qualcomm could be key in this as the chipmaker is one of Arm’s bigger licensees: its Arm-based Snapdragon chips power a great many smartphones and other mobile devices.

This makes Qualcomm just the latest of several companies that have expressed an interest in owning at least a stake in Arm. Earlier this year, Park Jung-ho, co-CEO of Korean chipmaker SK hynix, told a meeting of the company’s shareholders that it was considering forming a consortium to buy Arm.

“We are reviewing possibly forming a consortium, together with strategic partners, to jointly acquire it,” Park Jung-ho is reported to have said.

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