Nvidia will acquire SoftBank’s processor architecture firm Arm for $40 billion, media reports said. The chipmaker will pay $21.5 billion in shares and $12 billion in cash to SoftBank, as part of the deal. In addition, the company will pay $2 billion on signing the agreement.
The deal will pave the way for Nvidia to expand its footprints and range of its product’s portfolio across the world. The company is on the line of other counterparts such as data centre chip market such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, which will compete with its products.
Nvidia will also give stakes between 6.7 percent and 8.1 percent to SoftBank and $100 billion Vision Fund. Moreover, the chipmaker expects to pay an additional $5 billion in cash to SoftBank if its designer arm performs well.
The chipmaker also acquired Mellanox, an Israel-based company in April. Mellanox provides high speed networking technology for supercomputers and data centres.
Softbank’s Arm develops set architecture, the most important base designs for computing cores. The technology is provided to companies such Qualcomm, Apple and Samsung, where they use it to manufacture smartphones and other devices such as Mac computers.
The move by Nvidia during the Covid-19 outbreak shows its interest towards expansion and sustainability even during tougher times.
Nvidia will be able to develop its own central processor chips once thew acquisition is completed.