Nasdaq Fought Off Fierce Rivals to Win IPO of SoftBank’s Arm (1)

Nasdaq Inc. may be the coveted destination for tech companies looking to go public. But the exchange had to pull out all the stops to lure chip designer Arm Ltd., likely to be the largest initial public offering of the year.

The proposed listing sparked a remarkable, behind-the-scenes scrum involving heads of state, exchange officials and the billionaire founder of SoftBank Group Corp., and was furiously contested across three continents for months. Nasdaq Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman and her team ultimately triumphed with a proposal that included a stunning $50 million joint marketing package and guidance on ...