Britons could buy shares in Arm even if it doesn’t list in London
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British investors could have the opportunity to buy shares in Arm even if it decides not to go public in London
British investors could have the opportunity to buy shares in Arm even if it decides not to go public in London.
If the Cambridge-based computer chip maker chooses to list its shares on the US stock market, investors here will still be able to buy shares through a retail offering, according to market technology platform PrimaryBid.
The company, which allows private investors to buy shares in companies during fundraising and new listings, has presented the idea to ministers.
Focused on the US: Softbank founder Masayoshi Son (pictured) is said to be planning to list Arm on Wall Street worth at least £48bn
PrimaryBid boss Anand Sambasivan said British investors “want and deserve access” to Arm’s listing.
“A listing in London would be ideal, but there’s no reason the British public should miss it,” he told Bloomberg.
The proposal follows a similar arrangement made by PrimaryBid to list club owner Soho House in the US in 2021.
The pitch comes amid waning hopes that Arm’s owner, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which happens to be PrimaryBid’s largest investor, will opt for a UK listing and instead take the company to Wall Street at a value of at least least £48 billion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has lobbied intensely to persuade SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son to list Arm’s shares in the UK through a dual listing of its London and New York shares to boost the city’s post-Brexit competitiveness.
There were also arguments that a dual listing would allow Arm to join FTSE stock market indices, meaning it could be bought by tracker funds, and would also increase the tradability of its shares.
But Son has so far focused on a US listing because of the large group of investors and higher valuations.
Arm is a critical player in the global computer chip industry, with its designs used in a range of electronics from phones to cars.
According to the group’s website, the processor designs are used in about 95 percent of mobile phones.
Its importance has become even more acute amid a global shortage of computer chips and growing concern that Taiwan, the world’s largest supplier, could be invaded by China.
An offer from PrimaryBid would be something of a consolation prize for British investors after the struggle to keep Arm closer to its roots in Cambridge, where it was founded in the 1970s as Acorn Computers.