SoftBank Group Corp. is set to enter talks with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. on a possible strategic tie-up over Arm Ltd., a British chip designer under the Japanese technology conglomerate, a corporate source familiar with the plan said Thursday.
SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son will visit South Korea next month to hold discussions with the electronics giant, the source said.
The talks on a potential alliance follow SoftBank's announcement in February that it was terminating a deal to sell Arm to U.S. semiconductor maker Nvidia Corp. due to regulatory hurdles.
Softbank said at the time it would start preparing for a public offering of the Cambridge-based firm, eyeing the U.S. Nasdaq market as an option.
SoftBank posted a record net loss of 3.16 trillion yen ($22 billion) in the April-June quarter, the largest quarterly loss ever for a Japanese company. Its poor performance was mainly due to hefty losses at its venture capital Vision Fund amid a worldwide market slump.
Admitting his aggressive stance on startup investments had backfired, Son said at a press conference in August that he would curb investments for the time being.
