Nvidia’s bid for Arm dealt blow by regulator

The UK regulator has found that Nvidia’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of chip designer ARM could damage competition and weaken rivals and, as a consequence, will require a further lengthy investigation.

In a serious blow to Nvidia the deal, which has faced growing criticism, was questioned by Britain’s competition regulator suggesting that the merged entity could reduce competition in markets around the world and in key sectors such as data centres, the internet-of-things, automotives and gaming.

Usually, in order to pass which raises these competition implications, the regulator would normally require a disposal of the part of the merged business that has the power to harm rivals. However, in the case of this deal those threats actually span the whole business.

“We’re concerned that Nvidia controlling ARM could create real problems for Nvidia’s rivals by limiting their access to key technologies, and ultimately stifling innovation across a number of important and growing markets,” said Andrea Coscelli, head of Competition and Markets