A semiconductor-design firm owned by Japan's SoftBank Group has announced plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock market in the United States. The public offering by UK-based Arm is expected to be one of this year's biggest.

The listing is likely to take place in September. Estimates put Arm's market value at more than 60 billion dollars.

The plan is to sell only part of the company. The Japanese parent will likely retain many of Arm's shares.

SoftBank Group foresees rapid growth in the field of artificial intelligence. It's aiming to expand its business with Arm's operations at its core.

The company may also use its holding of Arm shares as a way to secure funding. It used to rely on its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group for collateral. But it had sold nearly all of its Alibaba shares by the end of June.

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi spoke about Arm at a stockholders' meeting in June. He said some people had called his acquisition of the chip firm a total waste of money.

But Son said Arm has entered into a period of explosive growth and he expressed hope for its future expansion.