Arm in talks to bring in Nvidia as anchor investor ahead of planned IPO

Investing.com — U.K.-based chip designer Arm is reportedly in negotiations to bring in Nvidia (NASDAQ:) as an anchor investor in its planned initial public offering, according to unnamed sources cited by the Financial Times.

Arm hopes that Nvidia, which earlier this year became the first chipmaker to touch a more than $1 trillion valuation, will take a long-term stake at its IPO stage, the people told the FT.

The discussions reportedly center around Arm’s potential valuation. Nvidia wants to come in at a share price that would place Arm’s total value at between $35B to $40B, a source quoted by the FT said. Arm, however, would like the figure to be closer to $80B.

Nvidia’s possible stake could help bolster Arm’s attempt to go public by helping ease lingering investor concerns.

Regulators in the U.S. have already been contacted by both companies in a bid to soothe any possible worries, the FT reported. A $66B sale of Arm by Japan’s SoftBank (TYO:) to Nvidia was scrapped last year after regulators in the U.S., U.K. and EU all voiced competition concerns over the deal.