Rishi Sunak has called on Arm to return to the London stock market in what would be a major boost for the City.
Amid fears one of the country’s most prestigious technology companies will list its shares in New York, the Chancellor threw his weight behind efforts to bring the chip designer back to the UK.
Ministers and executives at the London Stock Exchange want to attract more tech companies and have launched a charm offensive to win over SoftBank, the tech firm’s Japanese owner.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) has thrown his weight behind efforts to bring prestigious chip designer Arm back to the UK
But a London listing is far from certain after SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son in February said the Nasdaq in New York was ‘the most suitable option’ because it was ‘at the centre of global high-tech’.
Such a move would be a blow to Britain and to Sunak, who last year called on Tory peer Lord Hill to review the listing rules in a bid to make London more attractive.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the Chancellor said: ‘Of course I want to see Arm listed in the UK.
That’s why I asked Jonathan Hill to reform our listings rules, to make London a more attractive place.
‘The Government is committed to seeing companies like Arm listed in London.’
The issue has been highlighted by the Mail’s Back British Tech campaign. Sunak insisted the environment is changing and London is losing its image as the home of old fashioned, low-growth legacy companies.
Last year Deliveroo, Wise and Darktrace all chose London over rival exchanges in New York and Europe for their so-called initial public offerings, or IPOs.
Sunak said: ‘Because of the reforms we put in place, it was one of the biggest years in over a decade for IPOs in the UK. We are a pre-eminent place in Europe for that.’
Shares in Arm were traded in both London and New York before it was bought by SoftBank for £24billion in 2016.
The conglomerate wants to return it to the stock market having seen its proposed sale to US giant Nvidia collapse following intense scrutiny from competition regulators around the world.
New York is still the favoured destination for the chip designer and even as the UK’s efforts intensify, there is recognition that the chances of wrestling the IPO away from New York are slim.
Russ Shaw, founder at Tech London Advocates, said: ‘Everything is still to play for, but New York looks favourite.’
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