NVIDIA to acquire Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion

The purchase will see NVIDIA leveraging Arm's CPUs and expanding the Cambridge-based headquarters with an AI supercomputer.

NVIDIA has brokered an agreement to purchase Arm Limited from SBG and SoftBank Vision Fund for $40 billion. This purchase will be a mixture of both NVIDIA shares and cash, and will accretive to NVIDIA’s non-GAAP gross margin and EPS. It will also be a huge step forward in the advancement of artificial intelligence.

This is a momentous occasion for NVIDIA and the march toward greater and more powerful AI computing. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, has stated in the official press release that Arm will remain at its headquarters in Cambridge, where NVIDIA will expand the site with a world-class AI research facility and will also build a state-of-the-art AI supercomputer, powered by Arm CPUs.

“This is a compelling combination that projects Arm, Cambridge and the U.K. to the forefront of some of the most exciting technological innovations of our time,” writes Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SBG, in the press release. “And is why SoftBank is excited to invest in Arm’s long-term success as a major shareholder in NVIDIA.”

SoftBank will be receiving $21.5 billion in NVIDIA common stock and $12 billion in cash. As part of the transaction, NVIDIA will also issue $1.5 billion in equity to Arm employees. The press release also notes that NVIDIA will finance the cash portion with balance sheet cash and that the transaction does not include Arm’s IoT Services Group.

Right now, the team at Arm have plans in place that were started when SoftBank originally acquired the company in 2016. These commitments are scheduled to be completed in September 2021. These will continue even after the purchase is finalized.

This is a major purchase and a definite victory for a company such as NVIDIA. It was only at the start of the month that the company was unveiling its next line of GPUs, the exceptionally powerful 30 series. It’s certainly exciting to think where we could be computing-wise in the next couple of years.

You can read the full press release of the NVIDIA acquisition of Arm via the NVIDIA site. Be sure to check out the Shacknews NVIDIA page for more coverage and the latest news.