The story of how a Cambridge firm became a world leader in chip design, and was acquired for US$32b (S$44b) by Japan’s Softbank, holds lessons for Singapore innovation.

You may remember that at the end of July, the financial press reported on one of the biggest acquisitions of the British high-tech firm ARM by Japan’s Softbank. Softbank paid US$32 billion (S$44 billion), 43 per cent above the last share price of ARM, for a firm with fewer than 4,000 employees, sales last year of about US$1.5 billion, and profits before taxes of about US$500 million.

That looked like a very high price for a relatively small company, even if its profitability is impressive.

Who is ARM and are there any lessons for Singapore-based innovators?

By Arnoud de Meyer & Peter J. Williamson

Read more ARM, the 44 billion company you’ve never heard of