SoftBank acquires chip designer ARM for $32b in the UK’s biggest tech deal

Following its July offer of $31.4 billion to acquire Cambridge, UK-based chip design firm ARM, Japan’s SoftBank has completed the transaction today in a £24.4 billion ($32.5 billion as of September 6) cash deal. The purchase marks the largest tech acquisition in the UK as well as in Europe.

ARM will be delisted from the London Stock Exchange effective September 6; Softbank said that it will run the company as a standalone business, while doubling jobs at the firm within the UK and also grow its workforce outside the country over the next five years.

While ARM doesn’t make products for end consumers, its contributions play a huge role in today’s mobile technology market.

The company designs processors for consumer electronics brands like Apple and Samsung, and its manufacturing partners shipped nearly 15 billion chips last year; more than 50 percent of smartphones available today contain processors running ARM’s latest v8-A architecture. And last month, Intel struck a deal with the company to manufacture chipsets using ARM technology, which should become available in several brands’ hardware in the near future.

That should help SoftBank further its efforts in building Internet of Things businesses as smartphone sales have begun to stagnate. The Japanese firm previously acquired mobile carrier Sprint in 2012 for $12.1 billion.