SoftBank Group's Arm is aiming for a valuation exceeding $52 billion in its forthcoming initial public offering, marking the largest US stock market debut of the year, according to the chip designer's announcement on Tuesday.
In a regulatory filing, Arm revealed that SoftBank plans to offer 95.5 million American depository shares of the UK-based company at a price range of $47 to $51 per share. At the upper end of this range, SoftBank aims to raise up to $4.87 billion. This valuation represents a decrease from the $64 billion valuation when SoftBank acquired the remaining 25% stake in Arm last month, having originally purchased it from its $100 billion Vision Fund.
Despite the lower valuation, SoftBank's IPO plan still outperforms its previous $40 billion deal to sell Arm to Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), which was abandoned due to opposition from antitrust regulators last year.
Jamie Mills O’Brien, portfolio manager at British fund manager Abrdn, expressed a more favourable view of SoftBank's IPO valuation compared to the initial discussions.