Anyone who cares about Europe's technology scene will be sad to see ARM Holdings become a unit of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.

As for the U.K., it seems odd (to put it mildly) that it appears content to cede control of arguably its lone tech champion, a week after new prime minister Theresa May professed her distaste for foreign takeovers of science-rich British companies. True, it's hard to characterize SoftBank as a wicked asset stripper in the vein of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer. The Japanese have promised to keep the headquarters in Cambridge and double the number of British jobs over five years.

But it's hard to swallow the spin about this showing a Britain that remains open to business after last month's cataclysmic Brexit vote. As Gadfly colleague Chris Hughes predicted before the vote, ARM has been put in reach of overseas purchasers precisely because the post-vote sterling slump makes expensive deals look slightly less forbidding. SoftBank may well end up a benign owner with no need for dreaded synergies, but future investment decisions will probably be made in Japan, not the U.K.

And if you ever wanted an example of the kind of brains-heavy British success story that May seemed to have in mind, ARM would be tough to match. Although tiny compared to U.S. or Asian tech rivals, it's a symbol of how Europe can compete against bigger, better funded players. Born in the early 1990s, it crafted a smart business model that relies on the intellectual brilliance of about 4,000 engineers to come up with chip designs that are licensed to makers of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets.

David Fuller's view

As with marriage, one seldom knows in advance how a takeover or merger will work out over time.  However, I think this article is overly pessimistic and any thought of rejecting Masayoshi Sone of SoftBank’s offer would reflect a type of patriotism I do not favour.

I think where ARM Holdings operates is more important than who owns it.  The company will remain in Cambridge which is well known as a centre for technological excellence.  Additionally, Son has promised to help the company double its number of engineers over the next five years.  If that does not happen, the problem will most likely be SoftBank’s heavy debt load, but we will see.  Meanwhile, Son is a high-profile advocate of investing in the UK, and both Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond have welcomed the deal.