Samsung denies interest in Arm Holdings stake

SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Tuesday denied a media report that it is considering buying a small stake in SoftBank Group Corp’s <9984.T> chip company Arm Holdings.

The Korea Times newspaper reported Samsung’s interest in buying a minority stake of between 3% and 5% in the British chip designer as a way to reduce its royalty payment, citing an anonymous industry official.

Samsung said the report was “groundless”.

Arm, the British chip technology firm, licenses its chip designs and technology to companies like Qualcomm Inc , Apple Inc and Samsung, which in turn use that technology in their chips for smartphones and other devices.

SoftBank is currently negotiating terms with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp after receiving an approach about takeover interest last month, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Sunday.

The Japanese conglomerate, which acquired Arm for $32 billion in 2016, is exploring options including a full or partial sale or a public offering of the British chip designer, the Wall Street Journal reported in July.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Stephen Coates)