There is no such thing as absence of influence. Government funding always comes with political influence, and almost always negative.
Norwegian sovereign fund is an investment fund that holds a tiny fraction of each public companies stock in its fund. For the UK to engineer a purchase of ARM would require raising $32B, offering to kick in 1.3% would go nowhere. Anyone with 99% of $32B doesn’t need the UK.
An alternate deal is only possible if the UK offered to kick in a large part, probably at least $10B, and taking a large minority stake. At that level they’d have to have significant influence, or the politicians who engineer it will get run right out of office. What if the new owner moves R&D from the UK?
Norwegian sovereign fund is an investment fund that holds a tiny fraction of each public companies stock in its fund. For the UK to engineer a purchase of ARM would require raising $32B, offering to kick in 1.3% would go nowhere. Anyone with 99% of $32B doesn’t need the UK.
An alternate deal is only possible if the UK offered to kick in a large part, probably at least $10B, and taking a large minority stake. At that level they’d have to have significant influence, or the politicians who engineer it will get run right out of office. What if the new owner moves R&D from the UK?