By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp’s founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son on Friday reiterated that the Japanese conglomerate was most likely to list British-based chip designer unit Arm on Nasdaq, stressing no final decision has been made.
“Most of Arm’s clients are based in Silicon Valley and … stock markets in the U.S. would love to have Arm,” Son told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting.
Son said there were also requests to list Arm in London without elaborating on where they came from. The entrepreneur did not say whether the conglomerate is considering a secondary listing for Arm there.
The Cambridge-based firm was listed in Britain with a secondary listing in the United States prior to its acquisition by SoftBank in 2016 for $32 billion.
The 64-year-old billionaire spent much of his presentation on business prospects for Arm, which the company has pivoted to listing following the collapse of an agreed sale to Nvidia.
Son is under pressure from shareholders as valuations of the high-growth stocks he favours as investment targets fall and interest rates rise, with SoftBank’s Vision Fund unit reporting a record loss in May.
SoftBank’s shares have fallen by around a third since last year’s annual general meeting.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)