UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with senior executives from Arm-owner SoftBank Group in an apparent bid to persuade them to hold part of the chip design company’s upcoming IPO in the country, Financial Times (FT) reported.

The news outlet revealed the politician held a meeting with SoftBank founder, chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son and Arm CEO Rene Haas to promote the float of shares on the London Stock Exchange, as part of a dual-listing with New York peers.

Having initially discussed the UK as a potential location for the listing, or at least part of it, FT reported in 2022 the resignation of several UK ministers had hampered efforts. SoftBank is said to have since switched its attentions elsewhere.

SoftBank plans to hold an IPO for Arm during 2023, though indicated in November 2022 it had pushed-back an initial timeline of conducting it in the first part of the year, blaming economic uncertainty.

The share listing has been widely expected since a deal to sell the UK-based chip design company to Nvidia collapsed under regulatory pressure early in 2022.