NVIDIA Wants to Buy Arm, SoftBank's Semiconductor Subsidiary

Graphics chip designer NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is looking into a buyout bid for processor architecture designer Arm, currently owned by Japanese telecom SoftBank (OTC: SFTBY). Anonymous insiders talking to Bloomberg and CNBC said that NVIDIA has approached SoftBank with a proposal, though other buyers still have an opportunity to outbid NVIDIA.

Two weeks ago, SoftBank hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to help the company find a buyer for Arm. SoftBank has also discussed a potential deal with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), but those talks were reportedly started by SoftBank and the iPhone maker wasn't really interested in Arm's technology licensing business.

Arm chips are found in nearly every modern smartphone and tablet, and Arm-based chips are also making their way into self-driving cars and data center equipment. Both Apple and NVIDIA design and make processors based on Arm's system architectures.

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Source Fool.com