£30bn swoop for UK tech firm ‘disastrous’

‘The biggest issue is national security’

BORIS Johnson may intervene in the £30billion takeover of the uK’s largest technology firm amid fears over 3,000 jobs.

The Prime Minister said last night he would look closely at the controversial sale of Arm – which makes chips used in almost all of the world’s smartphones – to uS rival Nvidia.

It came after a day of heavy criticism of the deal, which Arm’s co-founder Hermann Hauser has branded an ‘absolute disaster’ for Britain.

Many of Arm’s 3,000 uK employees, who work at its Cambridge headquarters and sites in glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Sheffield and Warwick, fear their jobs could be axed under Nvidia’s ownership.

Mr Johnson has asked ministers to investigate the deal and examine whether there are grounds for intervention, No 10 said. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said Arm was an ‘important part of the uK’s tech sector and it makes a significant contribution to the uK economy – we want that to continue’.

He added: ‘The government monitors acquisitions and mergers closely and when a takeover may have a significant impact on the uK we will not hesitate to investigate further and take appropriate action. We will be scrutinising [this deal] in close detail.’ The overnment can only intervene to block takeovers on the grounds of national security or other narrow criteria including if they pose a threat to media plurality or financial stability. Former City minister Lord Myners thinks the Nvidia deal raises national security concerns and is calling for a full-blown inquiry. Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner also warned ‘the biggest issue here is national security’.

But others have focused on potential job losses. ‘It’s an absolute disaster for Cambridge, the uK and Europe,’ Mr Hauser told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, warning the firm’s headquarters would ‘inevitably’ be moved to the uS, with job losses in Britain.

Arm was bought in 2016 by Japanese investment giant Softbank, which committed to keep it in the uK and from which Nvidia is now buying it.

The uS firm said Arm would ‘remain headquartered in Cambridge’ but Mr Hauser warned this was ‘meaningless unless… legally enforceable’.