Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, the UK RISC chip pioneer formed by Acorn Group Plc in 1990, has denied reports in the Sunday Times that it is planning a new year flotation on the US Nasdaq exchange. The company, which is 43% owned by Acorn and 43% by Apple Computer Inc, said that no such decision had been made but that a number of different options were being entertained. Such a move would make sense for the Cambridge-based company, which is better known in the US than on its home soil. A Nasdaq listing would raise more cash for the company than an equivalent listing on the less technologically savvy London markets. The downside however is the increased share price volatility and intensive reporting requirements that come with a US listing. Acorn Group would certainly find a high market valuation of its ARM investment a timely boost. Acorn’s revenue has dropped by nearly 50% in the last four years to just 30m pounds and the share price has suffered a similar fate. But there is unlikely to be any definitive news on the matter before ARM has cleared up the uncertainty surrounding Digital Equipment Corp’s sale of its StrongARM embedded processor business to Intel Corp. Intel’s plans for the StrongARM business, which uses and licenses ARM’s embedded systems chip architecture, will have a huge impact on the Cambridge company’s perceived value.
