SoftBank will acquire ARM for $32 billion

Japan’s SoftBank will acquire UK chip design company, ARM Holdings, to cash in on growing demand for processors and other technologies for the internet of things and mobile markets.

SoftBank is paying £24.3 billion (US$32 billion) in cash for the chip company that licenses its designs to a large number of chip suppliers to smartphone makers and to the emerging IoT market.

The Japanese company will retain ARM's headquarters in Cambridge and plans to double the number of employees in the U.K. over the next five years, when it will also increase the company's headcount outside the U.K.

ARM, with 4,064 employees,  will be an independent business within SoftBank, which will pay for the acquisition from existing cash resources and a loan facility.  SoftBank said it intends to retain the current ARM organization including the existing senior management team, brand, and partnership-based business model and culture.

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