Arm: Chip firm expecting to close IPO at top of $50bn-plus range
British chip designer Arm is reportedly set to hit the upper range of its valuation target as the year’s biggest IPO creeps towards completion.
The Softbank owned company is closing in on its fully diluted valuation of $54.5bn (£43.5bn), towards the higher end of its estimated range, and is urging investors to push it up further due to high demand for its shares, according to new reports from Reuters.
Unnamed sources close to Reuters said Arm will likely be successful in pricing its IPO at the top of or even above its $47 to $51 per share target.
However, the new reports suggest it is apparently also considering keeping its current price range of shares but pricing the IPO above its current valuation.
It will keep the amount of shares on offer the same – at 95.5m shares – because Softbank wishes to keep a 90.6 per cent stake in the company post-IPO.
Arm’s bucketload of underwriters, including Raine Securities, Goldman Sachs and Barclays, are due to wrap up the largest US float in two years on Wednesday.
Cambridge’s semiconductor jewel said last week that anchor investors such as Nvidia, Intel, TSMC, Apple and Amazon plan to lock in up to $735m of Arm shares at the IPO price.
A decision on the matter will follow in the next couple of days as the firm awaits several crucial investor orders, although these are not set in stone.
Arm and Softbank did not immediately respond to City PM’s request for confirmation of the report.