The rumor of Arm's affair with Nvidia has come to an end. "where to be listed" has become the latest focus of attention in the market.

On Monday, the $40 billion merger, the largest in the global chip market, ended hastily 16 months after it was announced. After Softbank Corp. and Nvidia announced the suspension of the deal, "where is the British chip designer Arm listed?" has become the focus of the market.

"We are very happy to be in Plan B," Masayoshi son, chief executive of Japan's Softbank Corp., which owns Arm, said on Tuesday. Plan B is to carry out a "large IPO".

Son said at a news conference that this will be one of the largest IPO in the history of the semiconductor industry. "Arm is likely to be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in the United States, which focuses on technology companies by March 31, 2023."

"America. When it comes to the listing of Arm, that's where we're considering, and it's probably NASDAQ. " He added, "No matter which exchange it is, the US is the best destination for us to prepare to list Arm."

There is still hope for a "London listing".

Arm has about 6000 employees worldwide and 3000 employees in the UK. Its chip design IP license plays an irreplaceable role in the entire semiconductor industry.

As the most important CPU architecture in the next decade, Arm is the "dynamic center" of the development of the computing field. Arm not only becomes the innovation center in the mobile phone revolution, but also plays an important role in cloud computing, automobile, Internet of things and virtual world.

The UK regards Arm as the "crown jewel" of the country's technology industry, and if it avoids listing in New York at home, the damage to the British government and the London Stock Exchange is self-evident.

Arm was spun off from an early computing company called Acorn Computers in 1990 and listed on both London and New York until Softbank Corp. bought it for $32 billion in 2016. At that time, the British government praised the acquisition of Arm by Softbank Corp. as a major success, but the British government did not expect that it might one day be listed on the stock markets of other countries.

However, a spokesman for Softbank Corp. told the media that the company has not yet made a final decision on the listing destination of Arm, which gives the London Stock Exchange a glimmer of hope.

It's hard to refuse to list in the United States.

Over the years, many European companies have chosen to list across the Atlantic to New York, believing that they will get higher valuations on NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon all have more than $1 trillion, while the most valuable technology companies on the London Stock Exchange all have a market capitalization of less than $50 billion.

Hussein Kanji, a venture capitalist at Hoxton Ventures in London, told the media that it would be "irrational" for Softbank Corp. to give priority to listing in the UK rather than in the US. "the upper and lower limits for listing in the UK are narrow, with a lack of attention, low valuations and no pressure," Kanji said. "

Another venture capitalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the media that listing on an exchange that provides the best quality investors is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. "it's hard to imagine London with this ability."

If eventually listed in London, it would be "an important sign of confidence in the technology ecosystem, public markets and geopolitical forces," he said. "

Is there the possibility of a double listing?

Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Arm, insists that Arm is a British company. He wants to see the company listed in London, or at least in London and Nasdaq. In fact, a "dual listing" may be the best outcome.

"if Arm cannot be listed competitively on the London Stock Exchange, it is difficult for me to agree with the conservative chancellor that London is the best place to raise a lot of money for technology companies," Darren Jones, a Labour MP, wrote on social media on Tuesday.

However, the performance of some small-profile start-ups listed on the London Stock Exchange last year was hardly satisfactory. Food distribution app Deliveroo fell immediately after its listing, with shares of cyber security company Darktrace performing poorly and fintech company TransferWise's valuation well below that of its US competitors.

In addition, analysts are questioning that Arm's listing may not raise the $40 billion Nvidia previously offered.