Morrison Foerster advised Arm Holdings plc (“Arm”) in connection with Arm’s IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”). The offering priced at the high end of the indicative range at $51.00 per American depositary share (“ADS”). With a total deal value of approximately $5.22 billion, this was the largest U.S.-based IPO to date in 2023. Arm’s ADSs began trading on Nasdaq on September 14, 2023, under the symbol “ARM.” The IPO closed on September 18, 2023.
Arm is the world’s leading semiconductor IP company. Its energy-efficient processor designs and software platforms have enabled advanced computing in more than 250 billion chips and its technologies securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer.
Spencer Collins, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Arm, commented: “The MoFo team was the perfect partner for Arm on this critical transaction and their support was fantastic from start to finish. Justin and his team led us through a seamless IPO process and their level of responsiveness was exceptional.”
The global MoFo deal team advising Arm on its IPO is led by Washington, D.C. partner and chair of the firm’s capital markets practice Justin Salon, Austin capital markets partner John Hensley, New York capital markets partner John Owen, Tokyo office managing partner Ken Siegel and capital markets partner Jesse Gillespie, London corporate partners Gary Brown and Stuart Alford, and partners Marcia Ellis and Andrew Meyer for China-related matters.
Justin Salon said: “We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with such a cutting-edge company as Arm on its well-received IPO on Nasdaq. By building a true partnership with Spencer, the Arm legal team, as well as Arm’s leadership from day one, the global MoFo team was able to navigate the complexities of such a large IPO with touchpoints in the U.S., Asia, and the UK, and align with the company’s objectives.”
Ken Siegel commented: “We are incredibly proud to have advised Arm on this company milestone. Having led the MoFo deal team advising SoftBank on its acquisition of Arm back in 2016, it’s been fantastic to witness the journey Arm has been on. Arm’s IPO will help galvanize the IPO market for the rest of 2023 and give more investors access to a company at the heart of a foundational technology powering virtually all aspects of the world’s economy.”
Gary Brown added: “It’s been a pleasure and privilege for the entire London team to partner with Spencer and his team to advise such an iconic British technology company on its high-value public listing.”
The broader capital markets and corporate deal team included partner David Lynn and associates Jonathan Burr, Tyler Miller, Paul Aylward II, Hannah Yang, and Leemor Banai in the U.S.; Tokyo associate Bryce Gray; and London of counsel Emma Bosworth and associates Bowen Wang, James Dabell, Sebastian Lello, Thomas Kannan, Sam Jeffreys, and Carlotta Pregnolato.
