Arm Strengthens Board Ahead Of ‘prospective IPO’ – Business Weekly

27 September, 2022 – 21:31 By Tony Quested

Arm has unveiled a new CFO and fortified its board ahead of what chief executive Rene Haas calls “a prospective IPO.”

The Cambridge superchip architect seems set on a US float early in 2023 despite media talk of a potential pre-IPO takeover by Korean company Samsung – one of the world’s largest producers of electronic devices.

Arm sources believe talks between the company and £250 billion revenue Samsung are designed to fortify the Cambridge-based business ahead of an IPO through a strategic technology alliance rather than a back channel takeover bid by the Koreans.

If NVIDIA from the US wasn’t allowed to buy Arm for upwards of $40 billion because of anti-competitive concerns then it is hard to see how Samsung would succeed – even if it wished to. And no-one at either business is talking about such a deal being on the cards.

Haas, meanwhile, is reinforcing the troops around him in the assumption that a Wall Street IPO will eventually be confirmed as the way to go for Japanese parent SoftBank whose boss Masayoshi Son is personally leading the strategy parley with Samsung.

Arm has unveiled the appointment of new board members Karen Dykstra, former Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of AOL, and Jeff Sine, co-founder and partner of Raine Group, with immediate effect. Coming from a global merchant bank, as Sine does, is a useful addition pre-IPO as SoftBank aims to raise around $60 bn.

It has also taken on Jason Child as chief financial officer to replace Inder Singh who will remain at Arm in an advisory role and assist in the transition before moving to a new opportunity. 

Child has more than 30 years’ experience in leadership at high growth companies and scaling global finance functions. He will join Arm on November 2 and lead the company’s global finance and IT organisations, reporting to Rene Haas.

Haas said: “Jason’s extensive experience in financial management at public companies and IPO execution will be invaluable in preparation for a potential public listing.”

Child most recently served as senior vice-president and CFO at Splunk from 2019. Prior to Splunk, Child held multiple CFO positions including at Groupon, which he helped to take public in 2011, and as CFO at Amazon International. 

“Since its founding, Arm has had an incredible history of innovation and leadership in the semi-conductor industry,” said Child. “Arm is a world-class, category leader and I am thrilled to join as CFO during this exciting time for the company.” 

Karen Dykstra previously served as chief financial and administrative officer of AOL, a web portal and online service provider. 

Jeff Sine is the co-founder and partner of The Raine Group, a global merchant bank focused on technology, media and communications. 

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