SoftBank to buy DigitalBridge for $4 billion in AI infrastructure push

SoftBank Group said on Monday it has agreed to acquire data centre investment firm DigitalBridge for $4 billion as part of its push into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Under the agreement, SoftBank will acquire all outstanding shares of DigitalBridge for $16 per share in cash. The offer represents a 15 per cent premium to DigitalBridge’s closing share price on December 26.

The deal was unanimously approved by a special committee of DigitalBridge’s board of directors and is expected to close in the second half of next year.

SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son said the acquisition would strengthen the company’s foundation for next-generation AI data centres.

“As AI transforms industries worldwide, we need more compute, connectivity, power and scalable infrastructure,” Son said in a statement.

Shares of DigitalBridge rose about 10 per cent following the announcement. The stock had already gained sharply after reports that a deal was being discussed.

The acquisition comes amid rising global demand for infrastructure that supports artificial intelligence applications, including data centres and high-capacity networks.

DigitalBridge chief executive Marc Ganzi said the company would benefit from SoftBank’s capital strength and long-term investment approach.

SoftBank has increased its focus on artificial intelligence investments in recent months. The company recently sold its entire stake in Nvidia to fund further AI-related investments, including exposure linked to OpenAI.

DigitalBridge said it had approximately $108 billion in assets under management as of the end of September.