Written question asked by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Tuesday, 29 September 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 October 2020. It was answered by Caroline Dinenage (Conservative) on Friday, 2 October 2020 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

ARM: NVIDIA

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is seeking a legally binding guarantee to keep Arm as a separate entity with a separate business model that is not subject to US intellectual property provisions after Arm is sold from Softbank to Nvidia.

Answer: As provided in previous parliamentary responses, ARM is an important part of the UK's tech sector and makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. While acquisitions are primarily a commercial matter for the parties concerned, the Government monitors these closely. When a takeover may have a significant impact on the UK we will not hesitate to investigate further and take action. We are scrutinising the deal carefully to understand its impact on the UK. The Enterprise Act 2002 allows the government to call in transactions such as this. We will consider if and when it would be appropriate to do so.

Secondary information