Apple, Intel Among Companies in Talks to Be ‘Anchor Investors’ in Arm IPO
Apple, Intel, and eight other companies are in talks to be an “anchor investor” in Arm Holdings’ upcoming IPO.
An anchor investor makes a substantial investment in a company, buying up a large number of shares before they become publicly available. The company going public benefits by having the support of a big-name company backing it, which helps attract other investors, while the anchor investor is able to purchase the shares at a fixed price and may secure other favorable terms.
According to a report by Reuters, Apple, Intel, Alphabet, Microsoft, TSMC, and Samsung are among the companies negotiating to be anchor investors, although the talks are still in the early stages.
Securing a position as an anchor investor would be a big win for Intel at a time when it needs it most. The company has been working to return to its former glory and jump-start its foundry business. The company recently announced a collaboration with Arm to manufacture Arm-based chips in its foundries and would no doubt welcome the opportunity to work closely with the UK chip designer.
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At the same time, Intel will likely face stiff competition from the likes of Apple and TSMC. Apple has a long history with Arm, being one of the chip design’s co-founders in 1990. Apple’s current custom silicon chips are largely based on Arm designs, and the company will no doubt have an interest in securing its interests.
Similarly, while Arm may be the world’s leading chip designer, TSMC is the leading manufacturer. Given how many of TSMC’s customers use Arm designs in their chips, it makes sense for TSMC to pursue the deal.
In the meantime, none of the companies involved in the talks returned Reuters’ request for comment, and a decision is not expected until August.
