SK Hynix Shows Interest in Buying Arm via Consortium

[TheLostSwede]

Rather surprisingly, SK Hynix has said that it's interested in being part of a consortium to purchase Arm, during its annual shareholders meeting. Although several companies have voiced their interest in Arm, such as Qualcomm and even Intel, SK Hynix hasn't even been on the radar until now. However, the interesting part here is the bit about a consortium and Park Jung-ho, vice chairman and CEO of SK Hynix is quoted saying "I don't believe Arm is a company that could be bought by one company," by the Yonhap News Agency.

Although SK Hynix has only recently started working on the idea of purchasing Arm, most likely due to NVIDIA's deal to purchase Arm from SoftBank falling through, it looks like SK Hynix have a very different plan to that of NVIDIA. Park continued "It doesn't have to be buying a majority of its shares to be able to control the company," suggesting that even if SoftBank was to list Arm on the stock market as a standalone company, SK Hynix could try to take control of a majority of its shares. However, the mention of the consortium is something other industry players have proposed and it seems like the most sensible way to move forward, without causing negative effects for the Arm licensees in the long term.

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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

No way would Intel be allowed to buy Arm

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

No way would Intel be allowed to buy Arm

Not as a single entity, no. A consortium is a smarter way to go and less costly while reaping the same benefits.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Not gonna happen

 

[InVasMani]

I actually imagine all the DRAM/NAND maker's would have a reasonable interest in a stake in ARM if for no other reason than encryption and compression which are becoming more important for security, performance, and of course efficiency. There are obviously other cases for ARM as well so yeah I think SK Hynix is correct the technology is so far reaching it really shouldn't be controlled by one company outright. It would be better if it wasn't for society.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I actually imagine all the DRAM/NAND maker's would have a reasonable interest in a stake in ARM if for no other reason than encryption and compression which are becoming more important for security, performance, and of course efficiency. There are obviously other cases for ARM as well so yeah I think SK Hynix is correct the technology is so far reaching it really shouldn't be controlled by one company outright. It would be better if it wasn't for society.

Considering pretty much every single SSD controller is based on Arm Cortex-R5 cores that are designed specifically for RTOSes, a lot of them are already using Arm based hardware.

Not gonna happen

Pray tell, what other nuggets can you great Sage share with us?

 

[Vayra86]

Pray tell, what other nuggets can you great Sage share with us?

I do agree with him. Governments will block this, ARM is a strategic asset and for the UK, those have become a lot more important since Brexit. They'll not want control going to either Asia or the US. Britain has experienced first hand what happened the past decades: every (trade) partner(ship) has basically pissed all over them or they made it so. Hong Kong is EOL; Brexit is complete; the only notable ties are in global security/intelligence and we hear surprisingly little of all those new trade agreements Britain was going to make with shitty states across the globe. States like Russia... a 'great partner' except the Skripal issue and others already kinda killed that illusion years back.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I do agree with him. Governments will block this, ARM is a strategic asset and for the UK, those have become a lot more important since Brexit. They'll not want control going to either Asia or the US. Britain has experienced first hand what happened the past decades: every (trade) partner(ship) has basically pissed all over them or they made it so. Hong Kong is EOL; Brexit is complete; the only notable ties are in global security/intelligence and we hear surprisingly little of all those new trade agreements Britain was going to make with shitty states across the globe. States like Russia... a 'great partner' except the Skripal issue and others already kinda killed that illusion years back.

How can governments stop this if Arm is placed on the stock market? There's no preventing that a consortium buys over 50% of the shares, if they're offered on the open market. Arm is already 100% owned by an Asian company...

 

[Vayra86]

How can governments stop this is Arm is placed in the stock market? There's no preventing that a consortium buys over 50% of the shares, if they're offered on the open market. Arm is already 100% owned by an Asian company...

And how did that Asian company fare selling it away from a controlled situation?
The fact mistakes were made doesn't mean they will be repeated.

Take note of what's happening around Ukraine. Britain is one of the biggest arms suppliers. We learned recently they've been supplying for months already even long before Russia started moving their invasion force to the border. 'How can governments...' They just do.

And that's what you read about.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Considering pretty much every single SSD controller is based on Arm Cortex-R5 cores that are designed specifically for RTOSes, a lot of them are already using Arm based hardware.


Pray tell, what other nuggets can you great Sage share with us?

Very Droll. Just my opinion like everybody else's

 

[TheLostSwede]

And how did that Asian company fare selling it away from a controlled situation?
The fact mistakes were made doesn't mean they will be repeated.

Take note of what's happening around Ukraine. Britain is one of the biggest arms suppliers. We learned recently they've been supplying for months already even long before Russia started moving their invasion force to the border. 'How can governments...' They just do.

And that's what you read about.

Selling to a single company and putting a business on the stock market are two very different things though. No government can stop SoftBank from listing Arm and in turn, there's no limit on who can buy shares on the stock market.

You're supplying Swedish designed weapons though...

 

[Vayra86]

Selling to a single company and putting a business on the stock market are two very different things though. No government can stop SoftBank from listing Arm and in turn, there's no limit on who can buy shares on the stock market.

You're supplying Swedish designed weapons though...

Let's wait and see won't we.

But if one thing must be clear by now, it is that when shit hits the fan, nobody plays by the rules anymore, and as problems escalate, the definition of shit changes by the minute. I'm looking at way too many examples lately that just show everytime that systems are not quite as transparent as we might think, and I've also been part of too many situations of a similar nature.

See I don't look at ARM and see a Softbank owned company and stock markets, I look at ARM and see that the majority of its subsidiaries are EU-based, and that the company is founded in Britain, has its HQ over there, which means, its history and its ties and certainly a big part of its loyalty.

There is the world you read about and then there's the real one.
Also 'You're'- I'm not from the UK, I'm from the other side of the Canal.

If you can read between the lines (and some lines even say it rather explicitly):

Arm IPO: everything you need to know

The Arm IPO is on after Softbank's plan to sell the microchip designer to Nvidia collapses. The UK's tech crown jewel's Initial Public Offering could be soon.

www.ig.com

Take note of the sentiment they speak of, the problems with Chinese / Asian parts of the firm, the desire for stability of the company and its 'purpose', and the ties to the UK of several board members.

The take away is, Softbank wants to not come out losing, and somehow the UK is going to have its foot in the door. Those are the primary stakeholders here.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Didn't someone try buying ARM before and was blocked by the UK GOV?

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

How can governments stop this is Arm is placed in the stock market? There's no preventing that a consortium buys over 50% of the shares, if they're offered on the open market. Arm is already 100% owned by an Asian company...

Going public is the right move. There is no stopping the consortium, or Nvidia from buying up the required number of shares for a takeover, hostile or otherwise. That could buy a seat on the board, chairman even, but I doubt that will happen. Also, a takeover slash controlling interest has different rules than outright buying, or merging, a company

There are no laws AFAIK from buying a controlling amount of shares, nor does that amount of shares guarantee a seat on the board.

Let's wait and see won't we.

Yep. We can all go back and forth on this, but it would be better to sit back with the popcorn and enjoy the show.