Arm Holdings takeover: has Nvidia had its chips?
The takeover of Britain’s semiconductor group Arm Holdings by its US rival Nvidia could be running into the sand, says Matthew Partridge.
22 Apr 2021
The $40bn acquisition of British semiconductor manufacturer Arm Holdings by America’s Nvidia has been left hanging in the balance, says Amy Thomson on Bloomberg. The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, says the government may intervene to prevent the tie-up. Dowden has ordered the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is already looking at the impact on competition, to investigate the national security aspects of the deal too.
He notes that the semiconductors are not only “fundamental” to a “wide range of technologies”, including those in defence and national security, but also “underpin the UK’s critical national infrastructure”. Nvidia’s ownership could bring Arm under the “control of powerful US national security laws” that could one day be “used
Subscription Notification
We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Please update your billing details here
Please update your billing information
The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your subscription.
Your subscription will end shortly
Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK.
During a conversation with Astrazeneca boss Pascal Soriot this year, the French executive remarked that British science and pharmaceuticals did not have to be losers from the UK s new relationship with the EU.
In the same way as Soriot defied the odds in 2014, when he repelled a £69billion bid for the company from Pfizer, he regarded the Brexit rage from the science sector as misplaced.
Sure, it would be a loss that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would be moving from London to the Hague but it offered a real opportunity for the UK s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).