4Investments
The cost and net book value of interests in Group undertakings held by the Company was £590,815,000 at 31 December 2010 and £563,686,000 at 31 December 2009. The Company took advantage of merger relief in 2004 and did not record the premium on the issue of shares for the acquisition of Artisan Components Inc. (now ARM Inc.) and thus did not record the premium within the value of the investment in the Company balance sheet at that time.
| Investments |
Cost and net book value |
|
At 1 January 2010 | 563,686 |
Capital contributions arising from share-based compensation charges | 27,129 |
At 31 December 2010 | 590,815 |
Where options and awards over the Company’s shares have been issued to the employees of subsidiary undertakings, the fair value of employee services performed (equal to the share-based compensation charge) has been recorded as a capital contribution.
Interests in Group undertakings
Details of subsidiary undertakings are as follows:
Name of undertaking | Country of | Description | Proportion of |
ARM Limited | England and Wales | Ordinary £1 shares | less than 0.01% |
ARM Finance UK Limited | England and Wales | Ordinary $1 shares | 100% |
The principal activity of ARM Limited is the marketing, research and development of RISC-based microprocessors and physical IP components. The remaining shares in ARM Limited were held at the balance sheet date by ARM Finance UK Limited (AFL) and ARM Finance UK Three Limited (AFL3) (with AFL3 itself being an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of AFL). The principal activities of both AFL and AFL3 are as intermediate holding companies.
Nominees of the Company hold 100% of the ordinary share capital of ARM Employee Benefit Trustee Ltd, a company which acts as trustee to the Group’s ESOP.