"We want to grow Arm and make it become even greater," he told analysts on a conference call. For Softbank, the sale marks an early exit from Arm, which it acquired for $32 billion. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has lionised the potential of Arm but is slashing his stakes in major assets to raise cash. The move comes as SoftBank executives, frustrated at the group's share performance, have held early stage talks about taking the Japanese technology group private, a source told Reuters. Those talks could gain momentum following the Arm sale. SoftBank's shares soared 10 per cent in Tokyo. Nvidia will pay SoftBank $21.5 billion in shares and $12 billion in cash, including $2 billion on signing. The deal will see SoftBank and its $100 billion Vision Fund, which has a 25 per cent stake in Arm, take a stake in Nvidia of between 6.7 per cent and 8.1 per cent.