SoftBank acquired ARM Holdings in 2016 for approximately $32 billion, taking the British semiconductor designer private.
ARM was founded in 1990 as a joint venture involving Acorn Computers, Apple and VLSI Technology. Instead of mainly manufacturing chips, ARM developed energy-efficient processor architectures and licensed designs to semiconductor companies. This business model helped ARM technology spread through mobile phones, tablets and embedded devices.
SoftBank announced the acquisition in July 2016 and completed it later that year. The Japanese technology group said the purchase would support ARM’s expansion into connected devices and the Internet of Things. ARM remained headquartered in Cambridge, England. In 2020, SoftBank agreed to sell ARM to NVIDIA, but regulators raised competition concerns and the transaction was abandoned in 2022. ARM subsequently returned to public markets in 2023 through a listing on Nasdaq.