Proposed acquisition of ARM Limited by NVIDIA Corporation: Phase 1 report and Phase 2 reference under Section 45(4) of the Enterprise Act 2002
This page contains the CMA's Phase 1 report alongside the Phase 2 reference in relation to the proposed acquisition of Arm Limited by NVIDIA Corporation.
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On 13 September 2020, NVIDIA Corporation (NVIDIA) and SoftBank Group (SoftBank) announced an agreement under which NVIDIA will acquire Arm Limited (Arm) from SoftBank in a transaction valued at approximately $40 billion.
The government is today publishing the CMA’s Phase 1 report which recommends moving to a Phase 2 investigation on competition grounds. The CMA has found that the transaction may result in a substantial lessening of competition across four key markets: data centres, Internet of Things, automotive and gaming.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also today issued a Phase 2 reference under Section 45(4) of the Enterprise Act 2002. This instructs the Competition and Markets Authority to carry out Phase 2 investigation on the grounds of both competition and national security. We have today published the terms of reference and a letter to the transaction Parties setting out the reasons for the reference.
The CMA will now lead the Phase 2 investigation covering both competition and national security. It will have 24 weeks to conduct this investigation before delivering a final report to the Digital Secretary. This deadline may be extended by up to eight weeks.
This decision follows the previous Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport having exercised their quasi-judicial powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 in April 2021 by issuing a public interest intervention notice, confirming that they were intervening in the sale on national security grounds. This instructed the CMA to carry out a Phase 1 investigation on both competition and jurisdictional issues. Meanwhile, the government carried out an investigation on national security grounds.