Now the lobbying battle to persuade SoftBank of Japan to relist Arm Holdings in London is becoming zany. The government, reports the Financial Times, has considered using the six-month-old National Security and Investment Act to compel SoftBank to choose the UK stock market, rather than Nasdaq in New York, as the next home for Cambridge’s finest computer chip designer. One hopes ministers and officials had a lie-down in a darkened room after discussing the proposal. It won’t fly.
The security act wasn’t intended for this kind of work. Blocking contentious mergers and acquisitions – or, potentially, preventing French billionaire Patrick Drahi from adding to his 18% stake in BT – was more the intention. While Arm’s microprocessor technology has defence uses, it’s one hell of a stretch to say the UK’s national security would be imperilled if Arm was listed on a stock exchange belonging to our major nuclear ally.
