Last year, SoftBank made its largest tech acquisition to date when it snapped up ARM Holdings for £24.3 billion (approximately US$32 billion at the time). As part of the deal, which closed in September 2016, the company was legally bound to keep ARM's headquarters in the United Kingdom in addition to doubling the number of staff over a period of five years.
Now, ARM Holdings has released its first quarterly results since its acquisition, coinciding with the release of SoftBank's figures, indicating strong performance. The company posted a staggering 44% increase in revenues for the period, equating to £508 million (roughly US$634.4 million). A contributing factor to this result was the fall in the value of the pound, given that the majority of ARM Holdings' sales are made in dollars. With respect to US currency, sales also rose by 25%, representing the largest increase since 2013, while pre-tax earnings were boosted by an appreciable 53%.
While the results would have likely been well-received by SoftBank, it would, without a doubt, be looking for continued strength in the quarters and years to come to justify its purchase. With ARM-based chipsets, such as the Snapdragon 835, moving to 10nm processes this year, beating Intel who has yet to move beyond 14nm in its latest CPUs, and Microsoft planning to bring the full Windows 10 desktop experience to ARM, the future looks far from bleak in terms of SoftBank's investment.
Source: The Telegraph (UK)
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