ARM Holdings plc (LON:ARM) has soared 43% after the company announced it was subject to a takeover deal with SoftBank Group Corp in a deal worth up to $32 billion.
The 1700p offer represents a premium of 43% of ARM’s closing price of 1189p per share on Friday 15 July, as investors in the company are also entitled to receive an interim dividend of 3.78p per share to be paid on 10 October.
The 1700p offer also represents a 69.3% premium of the volume weighted average closing price of 1004p per ARM share over the past three months.
The deal to buy the UK based chip-designer is a significant move that see’s the Japanese tech giant advance its position into the mobile industry. ARM had become attractive buy for oversea investors as the weakening of the pound has made such a takeover more feasible.
ARM has the highest market value for a technology company in London due to wide use of its chip technology by both Apple and Samsung.
SoftBank have stated that the transition will see the number of employees in ARM in the UK double and the business will continue to be based in Cambridge under individual management.
Chairman and CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son said:
“We have long admired ARM as a world renowned and highly respected Technology Company that is by some distance the market-leader in its field. ARM will be an excellent strategic fit within the SoftBank group as we invest to capture the very significant opportunities provided by the “Internet of Things”
“This investment also marks our strong commitment to the UK and the competitive advantage provided by the deep pool of science and technology talent in Cambridge. As an integral part of the transaction, we intend to at least double the number of employees employed by ARM in the UK over the next five years.
18/07/2016
