Masayoshi Son (Japanese name: Son Masayoshi), chairman of Japan's SoftBank, arrived in South Korea on the 1st. Chairman Son is expected to meet with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to discuss the acquisition of the UK fabless semiconductor design company ARM.
According to business circles, Chairman Son arrived at Gimpo International Airport around 3:50 PM that day.
Chairman Son is expected to stay in Korea for about a week and meet with Vice Chairman Lee and others. Earlier, on the 21st of last month, Vice Chairman Lee, returning from a business trip to Latin America and the UK, told reporters at Gimpo International Airport, "Chairman Masayoshi Son will come to Seoul next month, and he will probably make some proposals then."
Chairman Son's side has also stated that they plan to discuss strategic cooperation between ARM and Samsung Electronics. ARM's parent company is SoftBank, led by Chairman Son.
Headquartered in the UK, ARM holds core semiconductor design technologies such as central processing units (CPUs) for computers and application processors (APs) for smartphones.
ARM possesses AP design technology used in IT devices developed and sold by Samsung Electronics, Apple, Qualcomm, and others, with a market share of 90% in the mobile chip design sector.
Therefore, there is significant acquisition interest from global companies. In 2020, SoftBank attempted to sell ARM to the US semiconductor company Nvidia, but the deal was blocked by regulatory authorities. Subsequently, Intel, Qualcomm, SK Hynix, and others expressed interest in acquiring ARM shares.
Attention is focused on whether Samsung Electronics will formalize the acquisition of ARM during Chairman Son's visit to Korea. However, many expect that Samsung Electronics is unlikely to acquire ARM alone.
Thus, it is also suggested that Samsung Electronics may acquire shares in ARM to strengthen strategic cooperation or form a consortium with other companies to pursue a joint acquisition.
Some industry insiders analyze that Chairman Son may also meet with SK Hynix executives, who have shown interest in ARM.
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