SoftBank Group said Tuesday that it will receive $5.12 billion in proceeds from the initial public offering of Arm Holdings, a British chip designer under the Japanese conglomerate, by the end of September.
Arm, whose chips power most of the world's smartphones, debuted on the U.S. Nasdaq stock exchange last Thursday in the largest U.S. IPO this year, shooting its market capitalization to over $65 billion.
The share sale is widely considered a success, given its first trading day's closing price of $63.59, some 25 percent above its IPO price of $51, reflecting investors' excitement over recent technological advances in artificial intelligence and Arm's increased role in supporting them.
The proceeds will replenish the war chest of the Japanese investment giant, which posted massive losses in the past two years due to a fall in the value of tech start-ups it invests in amid unfavorable market conditions.
Analysts said the share sale, together with the recent market recovery, could accelerate SoftBank's investment in AI-related venture firms as it has become easier for the Japanese company to raise funds using Arms shares as collateral.
SoftBank is considering a potential investment in OpenAI, a U.S. tech firm that developed the generative AI program ChatGPT, the Financial Times reported Saturday.