Anticipated debut: A smartphone shows an Arm Ltd logo. The company’s listing is expected to be among the largest this year. — Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO: SoftBank Group Corp’s Arm Holdings Ltd reported a 1% fall in annual revenue due to a slowdown in smartphone sales, after the chip designer disclosed the paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) that is expected to be the largest of the year.
Arm’s stock market launch is expected to bring back to life a lacklustre IPO market, which has over the last year seen several high-profile startups postpone their listing plans due to market volatility.
For the year ended March 31, Arm’s sales declined to US$2.68bil (RM12.45bil), hurt mainly by a slump in global smartphone shipments. Sales for the quarter ended June 30 fell 2.5% to US$675mil.
Arm said that more than 50% of its royalty revenue for the most recent fiscal year came from smartphones and consumer electronics.
The global smartphone market is on track to hit a decade low this year, according to Counterpoint Research. Arm’s modest decline in revenue, despite heavy reliance on smartphones for royalties, suggests that its per-chip rates have increased.
The company, whose chip technology powers most smartphones including iPhones, did not reveal the number of shares it is planning to sell and the valuation it will seek.
Reuters had previously reported that SoftBank plans to sell about 10% of Arm’s shares in the IPO and seek a valuation of between US$60bil and US$70bil for the chip designer.
Arm was earlier planning to raise between US$8bil and US$10bil from the IPO, but is now expected to raise less capital, after SoftBank bought the 25% stake in Arm it did not directly own from its Saudi-backed Vision Fund, Reuters first reported earlier in August.
SoftBank confirmed the deal with the Vision Fund in its filing on Monday.
Founded in 1990, Arm was launched as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Inc (when it was known as Apple Computer) and VLSI Technology. The company was publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from 1998 until 2016 when SoftBank took Arm private for US$32bil.
SoftBank began preparations for an IPO of Arm after a deal to sell the company to Nvidia Corp for US$40bil collapsed last year over objections from US and European antitrust regulators. Arm makes money from upfront licensing fees for technology and then a royalty paid on each chip sold by Arm’s customers.
The company has been expanding those royalty revenues, saying that the newest version of its technology has the “potential to drive our royalty opportunity per device even higher,” according to its filing.
Arm said 24% of its revenue came from China in its most recent fiscal year. That is broadly in line with many other companies in the semiconductor industry, but Arm’s revenue all comes through Arm China, a separate company in which it has only an indirect 4.8% stake.
“The fact that Arm China operates independently of us exposes us to significant risks. Arm China’s value to us as a customer is dependent on Arm China’s business results, which are, in turn, subject to substantial risks that are outside of our control,” Arm said in its filing.
Reuters reported that SoftBank held talks with some technology firms which are considering investing in Arm’s IPO. — Reuters
