No meeting with Arm executives: Lee Jae-yong

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong expressed his expectation for discussion to acquire a stake of Arm when SoftBank CEO visits Seoul next month.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong speaks with reporters at Gimpo International Airport on Wednesday. [KO SUK-HYUN]

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong said he did not meet with executives of Arm during a recent visit to Britain.

The chip design company, which is based in Cambridge, Britain, has been put up for sale by Softbank and is now set for a listing after a $40 billion acquisition by Nvidia fell through due to regulatory concerns.

Korean media had said that Lee may meet with Arm executives during his trip.

On his way out of the Gimpo International Airport on Wednesday following the two-week-long trip, which included stops in Mexico, Panama and Britain, Lee said that no such meeting took place.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will visit Seoul next month, and Lee said that Son may bring up the issue of Arm. He didn't elaborate.

The Japanese company intends to take Arm public, but the listing process has become the subject of considerable discussion. British authorities are pushing for a dual New York-London listing rather than just a single listing in the United States.

While a single chip company would be unable to purchase Arm to due antitrust concerns, a number of companies, including Intel, SK hynix and Qualcomm, have mentioned the possibility of a consortium.

Samsung Electronics has not mentioned its interest in a consortium.

Buying stakes in a newly-listed Arm is a possibility for chip makers mentioned by analysts, as small equity shareholdings would not likely trigger antitrust concerns.

Samsung Electronics fell to a 52-week low in trading Wednesday. The shares are down almost 30 percent this year.

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