UK's Political Turmoil Tilted Scales For Arm IPO Towards US: FT

U.K. government's political turmoil has jeopardized Softbank Group Corp's SFTBY SFTBF Arm Ltd London initial public offering ambitions as it hit the pause button, the Financial Times reports.
U.K. PM Boris Johnson has personally lobbied SoftBank's billionaire, Masayoshi Son, to secure at least a partial listing for the chip designer on the LSE.
The collapse of Johnson's government earlier this month followed the exit of investment minister Lord Gerry Grimstone and digital minister Chris Philp who were instrumental in the IPO plans.
Also Read: Qualcomm Keen To Procure Stake In Arm Ltd In Impending IPO
The political disruption could trigger the possibilities of a U.S. IPO, initially aspired by Son. Sources said that the London listing looked less likely than it had in the past.
SoftBank aspired for an unusual dual primary listing in New York and London, despite the higher costs and regulatory complexities of different exchanges.
Bankers close to SoftBank warned against a single listing in London driven by attractive incentives and other temptations.
London has faced flak for its unattractiveness to fast-growing companies, given the potential for higher valuations and deeper pools of investor cash in the U.S.
Therefore, the dual listing implied that Arm could get index inclusion in both markets, boosting the number of funds that could invest in the company, fast-tracking it into the FTSE 100.
SoftBank had recently invested in PrimaryBid, which provides a platform for retail investors to buy into IPOs. A source said that SoftBank could exploit it to attract private investors to the company in the U.K.
SoftBank opted for the Arm IPO after Nvidia Corp NVDA abandoned the proposed acquisition of the chip designer amid fierce opposition from regulators and customers.
Price Action: NVDA shares traded higher by 0.14% at $161.24 in the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.

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