SoftBank Group Corp. is asking banks jostling for roles on a potential listing of Arm Ltd. to underwrite a margin loan of about $8 billion (¥923 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.
The margin loan financing — linked to Arm’s initial public offering stock — is one option under consideration as SoftBank lines up an advisory roster for what could be the year’s biggest IPO, the people said, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public.
Banks are planning to pitch IPO valuations for Arm of upward of $50 billion, the people said. Arm is likely worth $25 billion to $35 billion based on the industry’s valuation metrics and analysts’ early projections, Bloomberg reported this month. Nvidia’s collapsed attempt to buy Arm for a combination of cash and stock was worth about $40 billion when announced in 2020 and rose to more than $60 billion as the bidder’s shares climbed.