Arm representatives held talks with a number of strategic potential investors including Intel as it seeks to sign-up big name backers ahead of its upcoming IPO, Bloomberg reported.

The news website claimed the talks were around Intel being an anchor investor, which would mean the US company subscribing to buy shares ahead of the main public sale.

Bloomberg’s sources noted discussions between were at an early stage and may not lead to an agreement.

Talk of Intel being a potential backer is the latest media speculation ahead of Arm’s highly anticipated IPO.

Arm parent SoftBank Group filed its draft registration statement for the process with US authorities in April, with the sale expected to generate at least $8 billion.

A fresh public float of shares in Arm, which had been delisted from the London Stock Exchange when bought by SoftBank in 2016, has been expected since a sale of the chip designer to Nvidia fell apart in February 2022.

While SoftBank’s initial target of listing Arm by the close of fiscal 2022 (the period to end-March 2023) was delayed by economic uncertainty, the company has regularly reaffirmed its confidence in a successful listing during its current financial year.