A source familiar with the subject told Reuters that SoftBank’s sale of Arm to US chipmaker Nvidia had fallen through, and that Arm will pursue an IPO.
The merger has faced various regulatory challenges, including a December lawsuit filed by the US Federal Trade Commission seeking to halt it.
The takeover is also being scrutinised by British and EU authorities, who are concerned that it could raise costs and decrease choice and innovation.
The agreement would give Nvidia ownership of Arm, a company that licences its processing architecture to semiconductor companies that create processors for devices such as mobile phones.
Nvidia has refused to comment. Arm and SoftBank did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.
The deal’s worth has ranged from US$80 billion (A$112 billion) to US$80 billion (A$112 billion), depending on Nvidia’s stock price.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in December that Nvidia’s takeover would harm competition in the embryonic markets for processors in self-driving vehicles and a new category of networking devices.
As worries about the deal’s future arose in January, an Nvidia representative stated that the acquisition “provides a chance to accelerate Arm and enhance competition and innovation.”
The Financial Times was the first to reveal the failure of Softbank’s Arm-Nvidia merger.
According to the Financial Times, the Japanese investment behemoth would get a break-up fee of up to US$1.25 billion.
