Sources: Arm decided against a London listing for now to focus on a sole NYC listing later in 2023; in 2022, SoftBank was aiming for a $60B+ valuation for Arm
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes a year-long drift away from London: SoftBank had already paused London listing talks in mid-2022 amid UK political turmoil, then took the cleaner path with a confidential US filing in May and an August Nasdaq registration showing $524M net income on $2.68B in FY 2023 revenue.
The sole-New-York decision matters for pricing: by September, sources had Arm targeting a $50B-$55B IPO valuation, well below the $64B implied by SoftBank's 25% stake sale — so every structural choice, including dropping the dual-listing complexity, feeds into what SoftBank can actually recover.
First-order effects
- London loses one of its most anticipated tech listings outright, while SoftBank gains a simpler, single-market path to monetizing Arm on the Nasdaq later in 2023 under the ARM ticker.
- Arm's bankers now price one order book instead of coordinating two venues, with the company reportedly still aiming to raise between $8B-$10B in what was expected to be 2023's largest IPO.
Second-order effects
- UK policymakers and the London Stock Exchange are left defending their market against the exact political-instability argument SoftBank cited in 2022, just as New York consolidates the marquee-chip IPO pipeline.
- SoftBank's exit math tightens: with sources pointing to a $50B-$55B target against the $60B+ SoftBank reportedly wanted in 2022, the simplified listing becomes the vehicle for closing that gap rather than expanding it.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, large semiconductor and tech debuts default to a single US venue, pressuring European exchanges toward structural reform — tax incentives, listing-rule changes — to stay in contention for flagship offerings.
- For founder-controlled sellers like SoftBank, the dual-track listing playbook gives way to a liquidity-maximization model where venue choice is subordinated to achieving the target valuation.
The trend: Marquee chip-company listings are consolidating around a sole Nasdaq debut as SoftBank trades listing complexity for the best achievable Arm valuation.