SoftBank Group Corp. unit ARM Holdings PLC is ceding control of its Chinese business Arm Technology (China) Co. Ltd. to a new joint venture with a group of undisclosed direct investors.
As part of the deal, the British chipmaker, through ARM Ltd., will sell its 51% stake in Arm China to the investor group for $775.2 million. ARM will thus hold the remaining 49%.
The deal, subject to the completion of customary filings and registrations as well as other conditions, is expected to be completed in June. Post deal closing, ARM will continue getting a "significant proportion" of revenues from Arm China's licensing of the former's chip products, SoftBank said.
The Shenzhen-registered joint venture, which will be called Arm mini China, has been operating since April and is planning for a public flotation on one of China's stock exchanges, Nikkei Asian Review reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank completed the acquisition of ARM in September 2016 for $31.0 billion.
