EU Set To Launch Formal Probe Into Nvidia's $54 Billion Takeover of Arm (arstechnica.com) 17
Brussels is set to launch a formal competition probe early next month into Nvidia's planned $54 billion takeover of British chip designer Arm, after months of informal discussions between regulators and the US chip company. From a report: The investigation is likely to begin after Nvidia officially notifies the European Commission of its plan to acquire Arm, with the US chipmaker planning to make its submission in the week starting September 6, according to two people with direct knowledge of the process. They added that the date might yet change, however. Brussels' investigation would come after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said its initial assessment of the deal suggested there were "serious competition concerns" and that a set of remedies suggested by Nvidia would not be sufficient to address them. The UK watchdog said it feared the deal could "stifle innovation across a number of markets" including by giving Nvidia the power to hurt its rivals by limiting their access to Arm's technology. Nvidia announced a plan in September last year to buy the UK chip designer from SoftBank, the Japanese investment conglomerate.
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What exactly does this have to do with the story? I don't get it.
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What exactly does this have to do with the story?
Nothing. Stop replying to trolls.
Only one slight problem with that plan... (Score:3)
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Nvidia said: “This transaction will be beneficial to Arm, its licensees, competition and the industry. We are working through the regulatory process and we look forward to engaging with the European Commission to explain the transaction and address any concerns they may have.”
Nvidia itself still seem to think the EU has something to say. I'd trust Nvidia more than you on that one. Pretty sure they've done their research. Otherwise their managers should all be fired.
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I suppose NVIDIA would want to continue selling in EU after the acquisition
Indeed. The US, EU, Japan, and China each have a big enough market to stop this acquisition if they are inclined to do so.
The rest of the tech industry should get behind RISC-V [wikipedia.org]. It is an open standard and technically superior to ARM in many ways.
There is less of an ecosystem around RISC-V, but that could rapidly change if Big Tech invests.
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This is wrong. It doesn't matter.
If Nvidia or ARM wants to do business in the EU, THEY must get the consensus of the EU for the takeover. Same reason why China has a say, and why the US has a say in almost every business deal.
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Don't get the EU blessing and you might just shut out a whole large market.
And there will be a point where a U.S. company is sick and tired of GDPR, cookiewalls, and the EUSSR's politburo, and give them the finger.
Fuck the illegal EUSSR and their overreach.
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Nvidia and ARM both have interests in the EU.
ARM locations: Copenhagen in Denmark; Oulu in Finland; Sophia Antipolis in France; Grasbrunn in Germany; Budapest in Hungary; Galway in Ireland; Trondheim in Norway; Katowice in Poland; Sentjernej in Slovenia; Lund in Sweden. Nvidia has a big facility in Berlin.
Anyway the ARM stuff is the important bit, Nvidia wants to buy the corporations in those jurisdictions so the EU gets a day.
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ARM isn't even a UK company any more, it is a subsidiary of Softbank, a Japanese company. And it would not make any difference to EU regulating business within its own jurisdiction even if it were.
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It's complicated...
Softbank is a Japanese corporation. ARM is a British corporation. Nvidia is a US corporation.
They could tell the EU that they do not recognize their regulatory authority in this matter. The EU has no direct jurisdiction over any of these corporations, however each owns subsidiaries within EU jurisdiction.
The EU could choose to take action against the subsidiaries within it's jurisdiction. The companies could then go to court and claim that this is unfair, retaliatory punishment for as
Takeover? (Score:2)
That word tends to denote a hostile acquisition. As I understand it, this was a legitimate mutually agreed-upon purchase...
Am I missing something?
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In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the target) by another (the acquirer, or bidder). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.