Tokyo, 25 September, /AJMEDIA/
SoftBank Group Corp is set to enter talks with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co on a possible strategic tie-up over Arm Ltd, a British chip designer under the Japanese technology conglomerate, a corporate source familiar with the plan said.
SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son will visit South Korea next month to hold discussions with the electronics giant, the source said.
The talks on a potential alliance follow SoftBank’s announcement in February that it was terminating a deal to sell Arm to U.S. semiconductor maker Nvidia Corp due to regulatory hurdles.
Softbank said at the time it would start preparing for a public offering of the Cambridge-based firm, eyeing the U.S. Nasdaq market as an option.
SoftBank posted a record net loss of 3.16 trillion yen in the April-June quarter, the largest quarterly loss ever for a Japanese company. Its poor performance was mainly due to hefty losses at its venture capital Vision Fund amid a worldwide market slump.
Admitting his aggressive stance on startup investments had backfired, Son said at a press conference in August that he would curb investments for the time being.