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Arm plans to lay off 12 to 15 per cent of its staff as it prepares for an IPO following the collapse of a deal for Nvidia to buy the chip designer. Photo: Shutterstock Images

SoftBank’s Arm to lay off up to 15 per cent as it prepares IPO after Nvidia deal collapse

  • Arm CEO Rene Haas said in an internal memo that the company will cut 12 to 15 per cent of staff in the UK and US as it prepares for an IPO
  • Haas is shaking up one of the most important firms in the US$500 billion semiconductor industry after regulatory hurdles quashed a planned Nvidia takeover
Arm, the SoftBank Group Corp unit preparing for an initial public offering, will cut as much as 15 per cent of its workforce, part of an effort to rein in spending and focus on fewer projects.

The British company will shed 12 per cent to 15 per cent of staff in the UK and the US, chief executive Rene Haas said in a memo to staff, according to a person familiar with the matter. The high end of that range would involve close to 1,000 jobs, but most of the cuts will not affect engineers, the person said.

Haas took the top job at the semiconductor design company last month following the collapse of a proposed sale to Nvidia Corp for US$40 billion. Since the deal fell apart, SoftBank has reverted to a previous plan to cash in on its investment by selling Arm shares in the public market.

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Haas is shaking up one of the most important firms in the US$500 billion semiconductor industry. Arm’s designs and technology are ubiquitous, playing key roles in everything from the most powerful data centre chips to Apple's iPhones. Arm had been spending heavily to build out its operations after being acquired by SoftBank in 2016.

“Like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline,” the company said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm’s global workforce.”

The contents of the internal memo were earlier reported by the Telegraph.

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