Johnson, ministers, and executives from the London Stock Exchange have been involved in an 11th-hour bid to persuade SoftBank to consider at least a partial listing of Arm in the country. However, higher valuations have recently made New York a more attractive choice for most of the world’s largest tech flotations. 

“We want to make the UK the most attractive place for innovative businesses to grow and raise capital,” a government spokesperson commented in May.

Back in February, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son disregarded the UK when outlining backup plans for the flotation of Arm following the collapse of a $40 billion takeover deal by its California-based rival Nvidia.

“We think that the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US, which is at the centre of global hi-tech, would be most suitable,” Son commented at the time.

However, more recently, Son said London was still an option for the company’s upcoming stock market listing, though added that his top preference was the US’s tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange.

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Preparations for the IPO follow on from the collapse of Nvidia Corp’s deal to buy Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion after widespread objections from US and European antitrust regulators. SoftBank has announced it will likely list Arm on Nasdaq by March of next year. 

Over the past few weeks, SoftBank has interviewed investment banks for Arm’s IPO, asking them to commit to providing a credit line as part of their commitments to the deal.  

Last month, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son promised investors that the company “will aim for the biggest IPO ever in semiconductor history,” when discussing Arm’s listing. 

While it is likely that SoftBank will list Arm in the United States, the venue of the flotation is reportedly yet to be finalised.