SoftBank Group Corp.’s British chip designer, Arm Ltd., plans to raise at least $8 billion from what is expected to be a blockbuster U.S. stock market debut this year, people familiar with the matter said.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity because the conversations are private, the people indicated that Arm anticipates submitting secret paperwork for its initial public offering in late April. According to the sources, the listing is anticipated to take place later this year, with the precise date depending on the state of the market.
The most high-profile stock market IPO in recent years is anticipated to be led by four investment banks that SoftBank has chosen. According to the sources, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays, and Mizuho Financial Group will serve as the deal’s lead underwriters; no bank has yet been selected for the coveted “lead left” role.
On Sunday morning, the Australian Financial Review published a study on the top banks.
According to the sources, U.S. IPO planning would likely get under way in the ensuing days. The sources stated that although the valuation range has not been determined, Cambridge, England-based Arm is expecting to be valued at more than $50 billion during its share sale.
Requests for comment from Barclays, JPMorgan, and SoftBank did not get an instant response. Mizuho, Arm, and Goldman Sachs all declined to comment.
The IPO market would benefit from a successful offering for Arm this year since it has been mostly stagnant ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caused market turmoil and a significant sell-off in tech equities.
The IPO market momentarily came back to life last month with the listing of shares by several businesses, including solar technology company Nextracker Inc. and Chinese sensor manufacturer Hesai Group, on American stock markets, but investors are still leery of placing bets on new equities.
Capital markets are not expected to fully recover until the second half of this year, according to IPO consultants.
The British government’s expectations that the IT behemoth might return to the London stock market were dashed when Arm said last week that it will pursue a U.S.-only listing this year.
After its $40 billion proposal to sell Arm to Nvidia Corp. fell through last year due to concerns from American and European antitrust regulators, SoftBank has been working to list Arm.
