UK launches investigation – could stop Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM

In September 2020, Nvidia launched an acquisition of ARM, which immediately provoked strong reactions from consumers, competitors, founders and even politicians. The main argument is that Nvidia would gain a dominant position and hamper competition, as ARM’s licenses are used by a significant proportion of the world’s processors – in many cases developed by Nvidia’s competitors.

ARM is based in the United Kingdom, where politicians, alongside the issue of competition, highlight national security. Probably not out of distrust of the country’s close ally USA where Nvidia is based, but because ARM with its significant role in the world should remain a British player. Following wild speculation and rumors, it is now clear that the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a thorough investigation into the acquisition.

We’re concerned that Nvidia controlling ARM could create real problems for Nvidia’s rivals by limiting their access to key technologies, and ultimately stifling innovation across a number of important and growing markets. – Andrea Coscelli, myndighetschef på CMA

In a statement, Head of Government Andrea Coscelli said that a Nvidia acquisition of ARM could create “real problems” for its competitors. Among other things, Nvidia could limit access to ARM-related technology to other players in everything from data centers to internet-of-things (IoT), the automotive industry and gaming – all areas in which Nvidia operates.

The British government is now launching a full-scale investigation into the deal, which in cases such as these usually takes around six months to complete. Nvidia, which had hoped that the deal would close in March 2022, has therefore had to postpone the forecast until later, but time is short. The acquisition deadline goes out of September 2022 and many analysts have expressed that they believe the deal is blocked.

Source: Reuters

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