SoftBank’s Arm to Lay Off Up to 15% as It Prepares IPO After Nvidia Deal Collapse
Arm Ltd., the SoftBank Group Corp. unit preparing for an initial public offering, will cut as much as 15% of its workforce.
(Bloomberg) -- Arm Ltd., the SoftBank Group Corp. unit preparing for an initial public offering, will cut as much as 15% of its workforce, part of an effort to rein in spending and focus on fewer projects.
The British company will shed 12% to 15% of staff in the U.K. and the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas said in a memo to staff, according to a person familiar with the matter. The high end of that range would involve close to 1,000 jobs, but most of the cuts won’t affect engineers, the person said.
Haas took the top job at the designer of semiconductors last month following the collapse of a proposed sale to Nvidia Corp. for $40 billion. Since the deal fell apart, SoftBank has reverted to a previous plan to cash in on its investment by selling Arm shares in the public market.
Haas is shaking up one of the most important firms in the $500 billion semiconductor industry. Arm’s designs and technology are ubiquitous, playing key roles in everything from the most powerful data-center chips to Apple Inc. iPhones. The company had been spending heavily to build out its operations after being acquired by SoftBank in 2016.
“Like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline,” the company said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm’s global workforce.”
The contents of the internal memo were earlier reported by the Telegraph.
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