SoftBank is near a deal to sell the British chip designer Arm to Nvidia, two people briefed on the matter said on Saturday, which would raise billions for the Japanese technology investor and create a powerhouse in the semiconductor industry. The two sides are close to an agreement for a cash-and-stock transaction whose price could potentially be more than $40 billion, these people said. A deal could be announced within days, though these people cautioned that final details have yet to be ironed out, and the talks could still fall apart. Nvidia is one of the world’s biggest computer chip companies, specializing in powerful chips that are used for computer graphics, data centers, cars and artificial intelligence. As of Friday, its market value was more than $300 billion — nearly $100 billion above that of Intel, the longtime standard-bearer in chip technology — and its stock has been one of the best performers of any technology company this year.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2020 19:00 UTC