SoftBank shares surged as much as 10% on news of the deal and renewed talks for the company going private.
Nvidia Corp. said it agreed to buy SoftBank Group Corp.’s chip division Arm Ltd. for US$40 billion ($54.72 billion), taking control of some of the most widely used electronics technology in the semiconductor industry’s largest-ever deal.
Nvidia will pay US$21.5 billion in stock and US$12 billion in cash for the UK-based chip designer, including a US$2 billion payment at signing. SoftBank may receive an additional US$5 billion in cash or stock if Arm’s performance meets certain targets, the companies said Sunday in a statement. An additional US$1.5 billion will be paid to Arm employees in Nvidia stock.
