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Market Chatter: SoftBank, Arm Approached Cerebras for Potential Acquisition Before Listing

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Arm Holdings and parent SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) approached AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems about a potential acquisition ahead of its planned initial public offering, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The preliminary approach was rejected weeks before Cerebras' expected IPO, according to the report.

Cerebras is expected to price its offering Wednesday at a valuation of about $34 billion. The company is selling 30 million shares in a deal that could raise about $4.8 billion amid strong investor demand for AI-related listings, the report said.

SoftBank has been expanding its semiconductor investments, including its $6.5 billion acquisition of Ampere Computing late last year. Arm is also pushing deeper into AI chips as it expands beyond its traditional licensing business, according to the report.

Cerebras develops large wafer-scale AI processors and is positioning itself as a rival to Nvidia. Customers include OpenAI, the report said.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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