Arm no longer plans to spin off its Internet of Things businesses to SoftBank. Instead, the company plans to keep the operations separate from its main business but still place it under Arm's roof.
The company's decision, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could signal a plan by Arm to retain potentially valuable businesses for a future sale or public offering. However, the company's ultimate plans remain unclear.
Just a month ago, UK-based Arm announced it would transfer its two IoT Services Group (ISG) businesses – IoT Platform and Treasure Data – to "new entities" owned and operated by SoftBank. (SoftBank purchased Arm for $32 billion in 2016.)
But Arm now has backed away from that plan.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Arm will keep its IoT businesses, albeit with separate operations and accounting.
Arm is a major player in the global wireless business because it sells designs for smartphone circuitry to the likes of Apple and Samsung. Japan's SoftBank purchased Arm with the notion of using its technologies to power future IoT devices, but SoftBank is now under pressure to sell off some of its vast asset holdings.
— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano
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