Sources say Softbank Corp. founder Masayoshi son did not put forward a proposal to Samsung to invest in Arm

CTOnews.com, Oct. 5 (Xinhua)-- Masayoshi son, founder and CEO of Softbank Corp. Group, discussed the long-term cooperation between Arm and Samsung Electronics on Tuesday local time, but did not suggest Samsung invest in Arm, Reuters reported, citing local media.

This is son's first visit to Seoul in three years. Son said earlier that he hoped to discuss a "strategic alliance with Arm" with Samsung. Son's visit also comes at a time of speculation that an industry consortium might be set up to invest in Arm. Arm's technology is adopted by Apple's iPhone and almost all other smartphones.

South Korea's Central Daily on Wednesday quoted unnamed industry sources as saying that at Tuesday's meeting, son did not propose that Samsung acquire a stake in Arm or make a pre-IPO investment. Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, also attended the meeting.

Softbank Corp. didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Samsung declined to comment.

CTOnews.com learned that Softbank Corp. bought Arm for $32 billion (about 226.56 billion yuan) in 2016. Subsequently, Softbank Corp. 's offer to sell it to Nvidia met with industry opposition and failed because of regulatory issues, prompting Softbank Corp. to draw up a plan to list ARM in the United States.