SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son arrives in Seoul for possible deal with Samsung

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son arrived in Seoul on Saturday after floating the possibility of forming some kind of partnership with Samsung Electronics in the sale of Arm, a British chip designer. The Korean-Japanese investor answered ..

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, right, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong,left, enter the Korea Furniture Museum in central Seoul in 2019 to meet with other Korean business leaders. [KIM HO-YOUNG]

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son arrived in Seoul on Saturday after floating the possibility of forming some kind of partnership with Samsung Electronics in the sale of Arm, a British chip designer.

The Korean-Japanese investor answered “business,” when asked about the purpose of the visit, according to local media outlets.

Arm, which is based in Cambridge, Britain, and was purchased by SoftBank in 2016 for $32 billion, has been put up for sale by SoftBank. It is set to be listed after a $40 billion acquisition by Nvidia fell through due to regulatory concerns.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong said last month that Son "might have some offer" when he visits Korea, without elaboration.

Son has also mentioned a potential "strategic alliance" for Arm with Samsung.

But market watchers project that Samsung is unlikely to acquire the chip designer entirely on its own.

SoftBank's 2020 megadeal with Nvidia, a leading manufacturer of graphics processing units based in California, fell through due to regulatory hurdles.

This has stoked views that Samsung, which would face the same regulatory challenge, may form a consortium for a joint deal or buy large blocks of Arm shares before it is listed.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]