ARM chief Simon Segars hails £24.3bn SoftBank deal as 'good for Britain'

ARM is one of the most successful British companies most people have never heard of

ARM chief executive Simon Segars this morning hailed the company’s £24.3bn acquisition by Japan’s SoftBank as good deal for Britain (Reuters)

ARM chief executive Simon Segars this morning hailed the company’s £24.3bn acquisition by Japan’s SoftBank as a good deal for Britain and for his company.

Amid controversy over the takeover of the company, which makes chips for the iPhone and is arguably Britain’s only top tier technology company, Mr Segars told The Independent: “What this will do is enable us to do more, and faster. We will still be here in Britain, we will still be headquartered in Cambridge.

“Our culture, our management, the way we operate, our ethos, none of that is going to change. We are not expecting SoftBank to come in here and say this is the way we do business, and here are a lot of processes you have to follow. They look at us and they see we are running a successful, profitable business. The thesis behind this is the two of us working together to drive the technology forward.”

ARM is one of the most successful British companies most people have never heard of. As well as the iPhone, the chips it designs and then licenses to other firms are found in array of devices and it is expected to be a leading player in the “internet of things” which will see those devices given web connectivity.

SoftBank has pledged to double ARM’s headcount at its Cambridge base, creating 1,500 new high tech jobs over the next five years in the wake of its huge bet on the company.

The deal will be one of the first to take place under new Takeover Panel rules that give a measure of legal force to such commitments when they are made as part of a takeover process.

“This is something we negotiated very hard on, to get this whole package,” said Mr Segars. He described the £17 per share price – a 43 per cent premium to last week’s close – as “compelling”.

The deal was fuelled by a 30 per cent fall in sterling against the Japanese yen. SoftBank only initiated contact with ARM shortly after Britain’s vote to exit the EU caused sterling’s value to plummet.

But Mr Segars said people should not be concerned by the deal: “Look, I joined when there were just 15 people employed here. I care deeply about the business and its future.

“If you look at SoftBank what they offer is unique. They make big investments and big bets that they expect to pay off cover a long period of time. They have a different way of looking at the world and their vision includes things such as autonomous cars. We share a vision.

“Delisting from the London Stock Exchange is just one element of this. I had to make sure we are doing the right thing for our shareholders and for the business. From that perspective, the price is compelling, and it is compelling in terms of growing the business and growing the technology.

“We both care about carrying the technology forward and delivering on its enormous potential.”

Asked why the UK has struggled to create more world beating technology companies like ARM, Mr Segars insisted that the sector has a bright future.

“My hope is that the new Government its thinking of ways of promoting technology, encouraging education into stem subjects and fostering entrepreneurship. There is a lot that can be done to the stem environment and ARM’s ongoing presence in the UK will help to stimulate that.

“I’m optimistic about the future of technology. There is nothing to stop the UK from participating in that," he said.