Since Britain voted to leave the EU, there has been a tendency to be downbeat about the country’s economic and industrial prospects. The decision by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank to spend £24bn on buying Arm Holdings seems in this light a welcome relief.
Ministers have hailed the deal as a sign of confidence in the UK as a place to do business. In the words of Philip Hammond, the new chancellor, it “shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to international investors”.
However, Theresa May’s government has made vague noises about the need for a new industrial policy. In this context, a bid on this scale that captures a star in the tech firmament has implications that deserve wider debate. The deal raises questions about Britain’s corporate culture and governance. Arm is a unique asset in a somewhat threadbare UK tech landscape. The decision to sell raises questions about whether boards in general remain too focused on quick returns to shareholders, rather than developing Britain’s few world-class companies for the longer term.