The global semiconductor industry has a new Asian power player, forged in a flurry of talks that took place over just two weeks.

Japanese internet and telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. caught the global chip industry by surprise Monday with a $32 billion deal to acquire ARM Holdings PLC, the U.K.-based designer of the microprocessors that power more than 95% of the world’s smartphones. It is SoftBank’s largest-ever investment, according to data from Dealogic.

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