Lead Capital Partners: The UK’s ARM Holdings which supplies the chips used in the production of Apple’s iPhones has agreed to be bought by Japan’s Softbank for more than $32 billion in a cash offer that sent shares of Britain’s biggest technology firm by market value soaring by up to 46% in early trade.
Under the terms of the deal, Softbank will pay £17.00 for each ARM share, representing a 40% premium on Friday’s closing price. The deal is a departure for Softbank which has sizeable stakes in Chinese internet giant, Alibaba and US mobile carrier, Sprint.
ARM owns the intellectual property relating to the semiconductor chips used in mobile processing and graphics technology used the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Apple in their proprietary microchips.
David Eckhart, Chief Market Strategist at Lead Capital Partners said, “This is Softbank’s biggest ever deal and represents a huge bet on mobile internet. ARM is set to be a major play in the Internet of Things (IoT) a network that links devices, vehicles and even home sensors that gather and share data.”
Cambridge-based ARM employs around 4,000 people and, despite Britain’s decision to leave the European Union last month, it is expected that it will be somewhat insulated from the fallout since most of its customer base is global.
Lead Capital Partners said the deal went a long way towards showing that, despite the shock of the Brexit vote, the country still has appeal to foreign investors.
“That said, it’s worth remembering that for every ARM Holdings, there are many companies who will have lost their allure to overseas investors regardless of the weakness of the pound sterling” said Eckhart.

About Lead Capital Partners:
Lead Capital Partners is an independent investment management practice founded on the philosophy that an active, opportunistic and adaptable approach to investing provides our clients with the best chance for the realization of long-term positive returns irrespective of prevailing market environments.
It is our firm belief that the “buy and hold” investment strategy that has traditionally served investors to such great effect over the decades can, now, lead to significant losses in bear markets, or to little or no profit in markets that persist in trading in ranges unless they are actively managed by seasoned professionals such as those at Lead Capital Partners.