SoftBank to buy DigitalBridge in $4 billion deal to bolster AI infra push
SoftBank Group will acquire digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group in a deal valued at $4 billion, the companies announced Monday, as the Japanese investment firm looks to deepen its artificial intelligence-related portfolio.
The acquisition will increase SoftBank’s access to digital infrastructure as the Japanese conglomerate positions its portfolio to focus on artificial intelligence.
DigitalBridge shares rose nearly 9.7% to $15.27 on Monday, following a 45% jump earlier this month after Bloomberg News first reported acquisition talks.
The $16-per-share offer represents a 15% premium to DigitalBridge’s closing price on Friday and values the company at $2.92 billion; The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of next year.
SoftBank’s billionaire founder Masayoshi Son is trying to capitalize on growing demand for computing capacity that supports artificial intelligence applications.
Jacob Yahiayan, CEO of DigitalBridge investor Urban Logistic Advisory Services, said the acquisition was “certainly a milestone in solving critical infrastructure issues” but said SoftBank was still far from controlling 10% of the global hardware and software-as-a-service market.
With its portfolio of companies such as DigitalBridge, Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch and AtlasEdge, it invests in digital infrastructure sectors such as data centers, base stations, fiber networks, small cell systems and edge infrastructure.
Founded in 1991 as real estate-focused Colony Capital, the firm pivoted to digital infrastructure under CEO Marc Ganzi and rebranded as DigitalBridge in 2021 after divesting most of its legacy property assets.
Ganzi will continue to run DigitalBridge as a separately managed platform, the companies said.
As of September 30, DigitalBridge managed approximately $108 billion in assets, making it one of the largest investors in the digital ecosystem.
The company, along with OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based technology investor MGX, is investing billions of dollars in the Stargate project, a large-scale computing and infrastructure initiative aimed at supporting the development of advanced artificial intelligence.
OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank said in September they plan to build five new computing facilities in Texas, New Mexico and Ohio that are expected to have a combined power capacity of about seven gigawatts when operational.
