ARM Holdings subject to £24bn Japanese takeover deal

ARM Holdings, one of the UK's biggest technology companies, is set to be bought by a Japanese firm.

ARM, the most valuable tech company listed in London, is subject to a £24bn bid from SoftBank Group Corp.

An announcement is expected later on Monday.

The British company is a major presence in mobile procession, with its processor and graphics technology used by Samsung, Huawei and Apple in their in-house designed microchips.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "ARM is a great success story and the fact that a Japanese company just three weeks after the referendum decision is prepared to...commit to grow that business here in the UK is a resounding endorsement of the resilience of the British economy and the attractiveness of Britain as a place for international companies to do business."

An announcement on Monday would come less than a month after the Japanese group's founder, Masayoshi Son, scrapped his plans to retire, effectively pushing out his heir apparent, former Google executive Nikesh Arora.

Son has said he wishes to complete the transformation of SoftBank into a tech investment powerhouse.

ARM, which was founded in 1990, employs more than 3,000 people.