Tokyo/Seoul: SoftBank Group Corp founder and CEO Masayoshi Son will discuss "strategic cooperation" between chip giant Arm and Samsung Electronics during the billionaire's first visit to South Korea in three years.
“I can't wait to visit Korea for the first time in three years. I would like to talk to Samsung about its partnership with Arm," Son said in a statement.

The visit comes amid speculation about the possible creation of a corporate body to invest in Arm and ensure its neutrality. Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, said, "There must be a middleman who can bring together different companies in one merger, and Son may be trying to play a role so."

Newswire South Korea News1 said Samsung Vice President Jay Y. Lee said Son "can make plans." Samsung declined to comment. Samsung rival SK Hynix has also expressed interest in Arm, according to Yonhap news agency. It quoted Vice President Park Jung-ho as saying in March that the chipmaker was considering forming a joint venture to buy Arm. The company said the statement did not refer to specific plans.

Son's earlier proposed sale of Arm to chip maker Nvidia has drawn industry opposition and faces regulatory hurdles, prompting SoftBank to outline plans for a US listing of the Cambridge company. "The plan may be that companies interested in owning parts of Arm can participate in the pre-IPO offering at a lower pre-IPO price next year," Lee said.

Funding the arm has been a major concern for executives at tech giant SoftBank, which posted big losses at its investment arm Vision Fund and sold its stake in Alibaba to raise cash. The effort to list the chip maker comes amid a sharp decline in business this year and a volatile market due to high interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Philadelphia Semiconductor SE's stock index is down about a third since the start of the year.
Source: NDTV
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