SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
The Japanese conglomerate's billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, has been studying Marvell as a possible target on and off for years, according to the people. It's part of his efforts to bet on hardware that can benefit from the artificial intelligence boom. SoftBank made overtures to Marvell several months ago, but the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on terms, the people said.
SoftBank was eyeing Marvell with the idea of combining it with Arm, the U.K. chip designer that it controls, the people said. While Marvell and SoftBank aren't currently in active negotiations on a deal, it's possible the interest could be revived, some of the people said. Son regularly looks at dozens of possible deals without taking action, the people said.