THE Government’s hopes of rivalling Silicon Valley have suffered a major crash after tech firm ARM announced it would list on the New York Stock Exchange.
PM Rishi Sunak and the London Stock Exchange have been wooing Arm for months in the hope of making it one of Britain’s top 25 public companies.
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Clinching Arm would have also boosted the UK’s reputation for tech listings.
The business — which makes microchips for phones, smart cars, drones and games consoles — confirmed yesterday it had chosen New York as the “best path forward”.
Chief exec Rene Haas said Arm, which is based in Cambridge, had not completely ruled out an eventual listing in London, where it was listed for 18 years until it was bought by Softbank in 2016 for £26.6billion.
The PM had met Mr Haas and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son personally to sell the benefits of a UK listing and argued reforms could make it easier for high growth companies to list without giving up too much control.
But industry bankers said the US continued to be more attractive to big tech firms as American investors still have deep pockets for growth businesses.
London’s Lord Mayor, Nicholas Lyons, has called for pension funds to increase investment in UK stock markets to ensure “high growth companies don’t feel they must leave our shores to grow”.
The Government said: “The UK is taking forward ambitious reforms to rules governing its capital markets.”
Job chocolaxe
HOTEL CHOCOLAT has told staff it will start cutting jobs, saying it needs to make the business “leaner”.
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The company recently shut stores in Japan and the US.
It is not known how many of its 2,257 employees are at risk.
A spokesman said: “This decision has not been taken lightly.”
Car costs rise
THE price of a new motor has risen by an average 43 per cent in five years, according to Autotrader.
The average price is now £39,308 with drivers switching to more expensive SUVs and makers hiking prices due to supply chain shortages.
The average cost of a used car has also gone up £4,000 to £18,000.
