Arm valued at US$54.5 billion in year’s biggest IPO

The news: Chip designer Arm Holdings has priced its shares at the top end of its indicated price range, making it the biggest US initial public offering this year.

The numbers: Arm has priced its IPO at USD51 ($79.40) a share, which will raise USD4.87 billion for owner SoftBank. It infers a valuation of USD54.5 billion for Arm on a fully diluted basis, which will make it the largest stock market debut since electric car maker Rivian in 2021.

The context: The IPO comes seven years after SoftBank Group took the company private. Softbank tried to sell Arm to chipmaker Nvidia Corp in a USD40 billion deal but abandoned it last year amid opposition from regulators. Cornerstone investors for Arm’s IPO include many of its major clients, including Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Intel and Samsung Electronics. SoftBank will retain about 90% of the company’s outstanding shares.