Softbank hoping for record float valuation for a UK firm when chip designer Arm lists in New York

The owners of British chip designer Arm are seeking a record float valuation for a UK company when it lists in New York.

Softbank, Arm’s Japanese owners, are hoping for the firm to be valued at £55billion when the chip maker is returned to the public stock markets possibly as early as next month.

Sources said the British company, whose products feature in about 90 per cent of the world’s smartphones, could be worth between £50billion and £55billion as SoftBank drums up interest from investors.

The firm has seen an increasing demand for artificial-intelligence chips as the technology continues to take off.

An investor roadshow is reportedly due to start touring next month with confirmed pricing details being revealed the following week. 

SoftBank is also seeking to raise between £6billion and £8billion from the deal.

London’s largest ever float to date was in 2011 when Anglo-Swiss mining firm Glencore listed at a £38billion valuation.

But Arm’s initial public offering will be met with mixed emotions. 

Despite months of intense lobbying to convince SoftBank to have a dual listing in London, Softbank snubbed the City in favour of New York, stating that it was the ‘best path forward’ for the company.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had asked SoftBank to consider a dual UK-US listing of the one-time FTSE 100 company’s shares.

The world’s largest building materials company CRH also warned it was going to move its primary stock market listing out of London and to New York.

Meanwhile, gambling giant Flutter is gearing up to list in New York in the autumn.

SoftBank took Arm private for £24billion in 2016, removing it from the London Stock Exchange.

Listings in the US are increasingly preferred by tech entrepreneurs.

Oxford-based vehicle maker Arrival was given a £10.6billion valuation when it was admitted to the Nasdaq in 2021.