SoftBank acquired Arm Holdings for $32 billion four years back in 2016. This was the firm's largest-ever purchase to expand into the domain of IoT and portable electronics. Now, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, according to people familiar with the matter, SoftBank is mulling a full or partial sale or a public offering of its acquisition, Arm Holdings.
The plan is to sell up to $41 billion in assets to "raise cash from its varied stable of assets" after the Japanese conglomerate was struggling to buy back its own shares. Though it is still early days for the review, the report states that the multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs is advising on it.
Apple began licensing technology from Arm Holdings back in 2006 for its A-series processors that are being used in its devices including the iPhone, iPad, HomePod, and Apple TV. Interestingly, the California tech giant confirmed last month at WWDC that its Mac lineup will transition to Apple Silicon, which is also based on Arm's instructions set.
The switch from Intel processors to Arm has been rooted in the aim to deliver improved performance at lower power consumption levels. Considering this precedent, Apple might be interested in a partial or full purchase of Arm Holdings to further subsidize and cut corners on manufacturing costs for Apple Silicon, though nothing is set in stone for now.
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