EU to investigate Nvidia’s $54bn purchase of Arm – CityAM : CityAM

Brussels is preparing to open an investigation into Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm as a result of competition concerns.

Nvidia plans to notify the EU of its intention to purchase Cambridge-based technology company Arm in the first week of September. Two sources with detailed information of the process told the Financial Times that when Nvidia officially notifies the EU of the proposed deal it will kick off an investigation into the sale.

The news comes as the UK’s CMA this week said the sale raises “serious competition concerns.”

According to the CMA, the takeover would give Nvidia, a semiconductor chip manufacturer, both the means and motive restrict its rivals’ access to Arm’s IP technology which underpins tech products used by 70 per cent of the world’s population.

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said the purchase could therefore “create real problems for NVIDIA’s rivals” and stifle innovation across a number of markets including data centres, gaming, and self-driving cars. She cautioned that customers could face higher prices as a result.

In September 2020, Nvidia agreed a multi billion dollar deal to purchase Arm from Softbank. However, it has faced pushback from rival chip manufacturers as well as UK authorities.

Earlier this year, the Secretary of State for Digital, Oliver Dowden, issued a public interest intervention notice about the takeover saying that it raised national security concerns as well as requiring scrutiny over its impact on competition.

A Nvidia spokesperson said the company is “confident” that the “transaction will be beneficial to Arm, it’s licensees, competition, and the UK.”

Read more: CMA watchdog warns ARM sale raises ‘serious competition concerns’