A deal – reportedly worth $40bn (£29.6bn) – to sell chipmaker Arm to Nvidia has collapsed following a tumultuous year and a half.

First announced in September 2020, the deal has since hit myriad regulatory hurdles across the UK, European Union and United States.

In response, Softbank has said that it now plans to float Arm’s shares on the stock market by the end of March 2023.

Nvidia and Softbank eventually agreed to put the long-gestating deal on ice permanently due to “significant regulatory challenges preventing the consummation of the transaction, despite good faith efforts by the parties”.

In the joint statement issued by the companies, SoftBank’s chief executive Masayoshi Son added: “We will take this opportunity and start preparing to take Arm public, and to make even further progress.”

Although the deal itself will be not be proceeding, Softbank will still take a $1.25bn non-refundable deposit paid by Nvidia when the deal was first agreed in 2020.

The sale – which came across the backdrop global chip shortage – has hit headlines multiple times. Most recently in December, the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the buyout, arguing that competition within the burgeoning market for microprocessors to accommodate the anticipated proliferation of self-driving cars would suffer if the sale went through.

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In Europe, the sale had not enjoyed smoother progress, with regulators also citing concerns around engendering competition, saying the sale could “push up chip prices and reduce choice innovation”.

Arm’s chief executive, Simon Segars, also recently announced his intention to step down after nine years in the role. He will be replaced internally by former president of intellectual property, Rene Haas.

“With the uncertainty of the past several months behind us, we are emboldened by a renewed energy to move into a growth strategy and change lives around the world,” said Haas in a statement.

The chip shortage meanwhile, shows no signs of ending any time soon with the pandemic continuing to stunt production and supply amid soaring demand.

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