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Plans for a potential joint New York and London listing of Cambridge-based chip designer Arm Holdings plc have ground to a halt following political unrest in the UK government.

The political turmoil culminated in the resignation of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, on 7 July 2022. Johnson is thought to have personally lobbied Arm’s parent company, SoftBank Group Corp. to secure at least a partial listing of the company in London. The government’s lobbying was also hit by the resignation of investment minister Lord Gerry Grimstone and digital minister Chris Philp, both of whom played leading roles in negotiations with SoftBank. Consequently, SoftBank is alleged to have paused discussions surrounding a joint listing in New York and London for Arm, making a single US listing increasingly possible. A single listing of Arm on the tech-heavy Nasdaq is believed to be SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s favoured option. While a US/UK dual listing is possible, companies tend to be reluctant to run two IPO processes simultaneously given the separate regulatory requirements and prospectuses needed for the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and the US’s Securities and Exchange Commission.

Arm’s listing location has remained hotly contested following the February 2022 unravelling of its sale to US tech company Nvidia due to regulator and competitor scrutiny across the globe. However, the UK government remains increasingly concerned with technological sovereignty, with this being a key driving force of the UK’s lobbying efforts. In addition, early estimates suggest Arm could be worth approximately £32bn, making it an attractive listing for London, which has traditionally failed to woo technology IPOs. London is also currently failing to convince other industries of the advantages of listing in the capital. Cambridge-based biotech Abcam plc this week decided to cancel its London listing on AIM in favour of the Nasdaq, in a blow to the government’s plans to make the UK a global centre for life sciences.  

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Market Tracker will continue to monitor Arm’s IPO as it develops.