UK Antitrust Authorities to Investigate Nvidia-ARM Acquisition

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The UK antitrust regulator plans to launch an investigation into the acquisition of the UK semiconductor design company ARM by the US semiconductor firm Nvidia.

On the 6th (local time), according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it will seek opinions from third parties regarding this acquisition before formally starting an investigation into the impact of Nvidia's acquisition of ARM on market competition.

The CMA explained that it plans to focus on assessing the potential impact of the merger on the UK market and that other factors such as employment or industrial strategy are not under review.

It added that it plans to closely cooperate with competition authorities in other countries.

Regarding this, WSJ reported that the US and other countries may also initiate investigations into this acquisition, with the investigation by Chinese authorities expected to be the most challenging hurdle.

In fact, it is known that the Chinese semiconductor industry, including Huawei, has conveyed opinions to their domestic competition authorities that Nvidia's acquisition of ARM should be blocked.

Previously, Nvidia announced in September last year that it would acquire ARM from Japan's SoftBank for $40 billion.

At that time, Nvidia expected regulatory approval to be completed by early 2022.

ARM is a company that has provided semiconductor design technology to Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, and others, with its technology adopted in 95% of mobile devices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.