JULYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8The Sources on July 12 reported that chip designer Arm is in talks to bring in Nvidia as an anchor investor as it moves forward with plans for a New York listing as soon as September.Nvidia is the most recent company to hold talks with Softbank-owned Arm about acquiring a long-term stake in the company during its initial public offering. Sources reported in June that Arm was in talks with more than ten companies, including existing partners such as Intel.According to one person familiar with the discussions mentioned in the report, the two companies are negotiating over valuation, with Nvidia preferring a stake worth between $35 billion and $40 billion. According to the source, Arm is looking for a valuation of around $80 billion.Last year regulators struck down Nvidia's planned acquisition of Arm worth $66 billion on competition grounds.This time Nvidia and Arm have proposed a small minority investment in the low hundreds of millions of dollars and have contacted regulators in advance to allay fears, according to people close to the discussions referenced. Based on a bank executive, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has launched a digital banking service in the United States as Japan's second largest lender seeks to capitalise on growth in the U.S. consumer banking market. Sumitomo Mitsui is offering personal loans through Manufacturers Bank, a California state-chartered bank owned entirely by the Japanese conglomerate.Beginning with a 270-person workforce, the digital banking service aims to generate tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) in net profit within ten years, according to Daisuke Tanaka, an executive in the bank's corporate development group.It intends to expand its offerings in the coming months, including a savings product."We're starting small with a long-term vision," Tanaka told a media briefing. "But we eventually want to have a solid presence in the United States." NEWSROOMNVIDIA TO BE A KEY INVESTOR IN ARM IPOSUMITOMO FINANCIAL LAUNCHES DIGITAL BANKING SERVICES IN USA
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