Samsung interested in acquiring a piece of ARM

Last month rumors popped up that Japan's SoftBank is considering a sale or IPO of its ARM holdings. NVIDIA was named as one of the possible suitors but now there's a fresh rumor that Samsung is also interested in ARM. However, while NVIDIA seems to be interested in buying the full firm, Samsung reportedly only wants a small stake.

The Korea Times claims a consortium consisting of a group of semiconductor firms may come out on top in the bid to acquire ARM. This deal is described as somewhat similar to what happened with Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, which received investment from various firms, including Intel, Samsung, and TSMC:

Samsung Electronics is set to join the acquisition race for the British semiconductor company Arm, which has been put up for sale by its current owner SoftBank, but the Korean tech giant will try to participate in the bid in the form of equity investment, obtaining a small stake in the chip-designing firm, according to a top official in the semiconductor industry here, Monday.

"Samsung Electronics is considering acquiring a small stake in Arm, which will be between 3 percent and 5 percent," said the top industry official, who requested to remain anonymous. "Arm will be acquired by a consortium led by multiple parties from the semiconductor industry given the complex nature of Arm's shareholding structure."

The paper claims it's unlikely that NVIDIA will be able to acquire ARM due to potential issues with gaining regulatory approval. Furthermore, with a rumored valuation of $41 billion, ARM is a large pill to swallow for most companies.