Nvidia’s acquisition of chip-designer ARM faces heat by UK regulator

Nvidia Corp’s planned acquisition of British chip designer ARM will take longer than expected as the deal faced a major hurdle on Friday after a UK regulator announced a further lengthy investigation.

The Britain’s competition regulator said the merger could hinder competition in markets globally and weaken rivals.

U.S. Group Nvidia bought ARM Holdings, a semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, in September for $40 billion from Japan’s Softbank. The chip design company was owned by Softbank since 2016.

Since ARM is a major global semiconductor company, chip firms fear that Nvidia would take advantage and use ARM’s innovations for its company rather than distributing them in the market.

"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," said Andrea Coscelli, head of Competition and Markets Authority, reported Reuters.

Another criticism of the deal is the threat to innovation in the most important industries of the economy.

Nvidia recently said that the deal is taking longer than expected to win the necessary approvals. The deal was expected to wrap by March next year but the deadline is now shifted to September next year.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Picture Credits: Reuters