Simon Segars, chief executive of the UK chipmaker Arm Holdings, has said that he expects tough and protracted scrutiny from China over Nvidia’s $40bn takeover of the company, reported the Financial Times.
China’s chipmakers have urged Beijing to probe Nvidia’s proposed acquisition of Arm on the basis that it would hand the US company control over essential technology used in many of the world’s smartphones and data centres. That has led to concerns that regulators in China may not sign off the acquisition.
Speaking to the Financial Times on Tuesday, Mr Segars argued that the Chinese regulators would want to review the combination of Arm and Nvidia thoroughly, though he remained confident the deal would ultimately proceed. “It’s a tough place at the moment with geopolitics so we’ll have to play that very carefully,” he said, adding that regulatory clearance across all of its markets will “take a long time”.
The sale of Arm, which was bought by SoftBank in 2016, has led to a backlash in Britain over fears that the US technology giant could move the chipmaker, which is widely seen as the crown jewel of the UK’s technology industry, out of its headquarters in Cambridge.
The government could still ask the Competition and Markets Authority to review the transaction on “national security” grounds. Nvidia has made commitments to keep Arm in Cambridge and will spend £40m on a new supercomputer for Cambridge to ease concerns over the takeover.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
UK Probes Lindab’s Acquisition of HAS-Vent Amid Fears of Market Monopoly
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Shein Faces EU Regulations Over User Data
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Google Fights Back Against US Antitrust Lawsuit
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
US Homeland Security Establishes Blue-Ribbon Board with Tech CEOs to Advise on AI
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
FTC Accuses Amazon Executives of Using Disappearing Messaging Apps to Conceal Evidence
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI