Softbank Approaches TSMC and Foxconn for Potential Arm Buyout

AleksandarK · Aug 6, 2020

Softbank-owned company Arm Ltd. has been a subject to a round of rumors regarding the potential buyout of the company because Softbank has considered selling it for some time. The company has approached NVIDIA, with their talks getting "advanced", and Samsung wants a piece of the cake as well. It is now reported that Softbank has approached TSMC and Foxconn as well, regarding a potential Arm takeover. In the report by Nikkei Asia, we have found out that Arm has shared the same financial data points and business plan with TSMC and Foxconn, the same way company did with NVIDIA.

If TSMC and Foxconn have any interest in the company, it would be necessary to create a consortium that would operate Arm Ltd. With NVIDIA, Samsung, and these two new players, the consortium would already count four companies. Nikkei sources claim that Apple and Qualcomm have been also included in the poll of potential buyers, which would make the idea of establishing a consortium very valid.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

The Quim Reaper · Aug 6, 2020

This is all getting very messy and seems to be designed to do nothing but make alot of corporate takeover lawyers and CEO's even richer than they already are...

voltage · Aug 6, 2020

The Quim Reaper said:
This is all getting very messy and seems to be designed to do nothing but make alot of corporate takeover lawyers and CEO's even richer than they already are...

exactly. the small fish in the pond deserve it. and believe it or not nvidia is the smallest fish. so, this time I am rooting for nvidia. but highly unlikely they will be the lucky buyers.

Kohl Baas · Aug 6, 2020

voltage said:
exactly. the small fish in the pond deserve it. and believe it or not nvidia is the smallest fish. so, this time I am rooting for nvidia. but highly unlikely they will be the lucky buyers.

My thoughts exactly. I think nVidia had no real chance given the ammount of much bigger corporations affected by ARM.

bug · Aug 6, 2020

This is probably not about creating a consortium. It's probably just Softbank trying to raise the price.

Assimilator · Aug 6, 2020

bug said:
This is probably not about creating a consortium. It's probably just Softbank trying to raise the price.

Yup, based on the shenanigans I wouldn't be surprised if Softbank never had any intention to sell Arm - more likely they're just trying to pump up the company's value ahead of next year's IPO.

bug · Aug 6, 2020

Assimilator said:
Yup, based on the shenanigans I wouldn't be surprised if Softbank never had any intention to sell Arm - more likely they're just trying to pump up the company's value ahead of next year's IPO.

Either that or simply trying to make Nvidia cough up more dough. Really uninteresting newspiece either way.

InVasMani · Aug 6, 2020

Out of these TSMC feels like it would fit the best in terms of how it already operates.

Steevo · Aug 7, 2020

Apple will buy ARM, and invest in a venture fab plant in the US and Taiwan with TSMC.

Processor	Intel i9 9900K @5Ghz 1.32vlts
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi
Cooling	BeQuiet Dark Rock 4
Memory	32GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR4 3200Mhz (16-18-18-36)
Video Card(s)	Nvidia RTX 3080 Founders Edition
Storage	512GB Gigabyte Aorus NVMe (Boot) 1TB Crucial NVMe (Games)
Display(s)	LG UK850 27in 4K Freesync/G-Sync/HDR 600
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C Windowed (Dark Tint)
Audio Device(s)	Corsair HS70 Special Edition Wireless Headphones & 7.1 Sound
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 850w Gold
Mouse	HyperX Pulsefire Surge RGB
Keyboard	HyperX Alloy Elite Mechanical RGB (Cherry Red)
Software	Windows 10 Home

System Name	My Addiction
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7950X3D
Motherboard	ASRock B650E PG-ITX WiFi
Cooling	Alphacool Core Ocean T38 AIO 240mm
Memory	G.Skill 32GB 6000MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse 7900XTX
Storage	Some SSDs
Display(s)	42" Samsung TV + 22" Dell monitor vertically
Case	Lian Li A4-H2O
Audio Device(s)	Denon + Bose
Power Supply	Corsair SF750
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Glorious
VR HMD	None
Software	Win 10
Benchmark Scores	None taken

Processor	Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard	Asus H670 TUF
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s)	Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10

System Name	Firelance.
Processor	Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard	ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling	IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory	8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage	2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s)	3x AOC Q32E2N (32" 2560x1440 75Hz)
Case	Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Logitech G613
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

Processor	Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard	Asus H670 TUF
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s)	Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10

System Name	Compy 386
Processor	7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus
Cooling	Air for now.....
Memory	64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s)	7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage	Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs and over 10TB spinning
Display(s)	56" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s)	ATI HDMI
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Razer
Software	A lot.
Benchmark Scores	Its fast. Enough.

Softbank Approaches TSMC and Foxconn for Potential Arm Buyout

News Editor