Nvidia shares rose more than 5% to a new high

Nvidia shares rose more than 5% to a new high on Report Three Key Chip Makers Endorse Bid for Arm.

Three major chip makers have reportedly stepped up to say they support Nvidia‘s proposed acquisition of the U.K.-based chip-design house Arm.

Last September, Nvidia (ticker: NVDA) announced a deal to acquire Arm from SoftBank Group(SFTBY) for $40 billion in cash and stock in a transaction that would make SoftBank the largest investor in Nvidia. The deal has attracted considerable scrutiny from both regulators and other chip companies, given Arm’s position as a leading provider of microprocessor designs to the chip industry. Almost all smartphones use processors based on Arm designs.

But the U.K.’s Sunday Times over the weekend reported that three important Arm customers—Broadcom(AVGO), Marvell (MRVL), and Taiwan-based MediaTek(2454.TW)—have endorsed the transaction. None of the companies involved could immediately be reached for comment.

Citi analyst Atif Malk wrote in a research note Sunday that the report is a big step forward for the proposed deal. He thinks the U.K. likely will approve the combination, given Nvidia’s public commitment to investing more in Arm’s U.K. operations. But he still sees considerable hurdles, in particular in China.

“With the U.S. continuing to be aggressive against China winning in a tech race, we see China less likely to support a deal that would see them potentially losing access to Arm,” he wrote in a research note. “If Nvidia finds a way to keep the Arm China subsidiary as a separate entity without access to any [graphics processor or artificial intelligence] IP then there is a path to get both U.S. and China regulatory approval.”

Malik says he says the path to approval remains narrow. He now sees a 30% chance of approval, up from a previous estimate of 10%.