SoftBank is in talks to acquire investment firm DigitalBridge
Photo: EPA / Ritchie Tongo

Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc., a private investment firm that invests in data centers and other digital infrastructure, reports Bloomberg.

DigitalBridge shares, which had fallen 13% this year before the December 5 talks were announced, rose 45% on the same day. The company's market value is now about $2.5 billion, and its enterprise value, including debt, is $3.8 billion.

A final agreement has not yet been reached, and the details are still subject to change.

As of the end of September, DigitalBridge, led by CEO Marc Ganzi, had approximately $108 billion in assets under management. The company's investment portfolio includes a number of digital infrastructure operators, including AIMS, AtlasEdge, DataBank, Switch, Vantage Data Centers, and Yondr Group.

Meanwhile, billionaire and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is looking to capitalize on the surging demand for computing power for artificial intelligence solutions. The deal is part of the Japanese conglomerate's broader strategy to benefit from the digital infrastructure boom.

In January, SoftBank announced the $500 billion Stargate project with OpenAI, Oracle Corp., and MGX from Abu Dhabi to build data centers in the US. Son pledged to allocate $100 billion, but the project's deployment is proceeding slower than planned.

SoftBank has previously made deals in the asset management sector. In 2017, the company acquired Fortress Investment Group for over $3 billion. It later sold its stake to a group of investors, including Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., with the deal completed in 2024.

  • On November 11, it became known that the Japanese technology giant SoftBank sold their share in Nvidia for $5.8 billion, shifting the focus to investments in OpenAI and other artificial intelligence projects.
  • On December 1, SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son said he had sold shares. Nvidia Corp. only due to the need for funds for new investments in artificial intelligence, calling this decision a difficult one for him.
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