SoftBank in talks to buy DigitalBridge in AI push, asset manager's shares rise 45% in single day — Inside the deal

SoftBank Group is mulling another acquisition, as the Masayoshi Son-led company is in talks to buy DigitalBridge Group Inc., Bloomberg reported quoting people familiar with the matter.

DigitalBridge is a private equity company that invests in assets including data centres and SoftBank's talks come at a time when the Japanese company is ramping up its goal to take advantage of an AI-driven boom in digital infrastructure.

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to make a potential deal to buy the New York-listed DigitalBridge and then taking it private, the people told Bloomberg.

According to a report by Reuters quoting a person in the know, the deal is likely to be finalised by the end of this year.

A SoftBank-DigitalBridge deal could come together as soon as the coming weeks, even as deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty they will lead to an agreement, Bloomberg said in its report.

Investors have funnelled record capital into digital infrastructure this year, wagering that growing power demand will turn data centres into prime real estate. McKinsey projects spending on AI-linked infrastructure could reach $6.7 trillion by 2030.

SoftBank and DigitalBridge have not released any official communication on the matter yet.

DigitalBridge shares see biggest one-day gain

Shares of DigitalBridge soared as much as 45% on Friday's close, marking its biggest one-day gain ever as the news of the SoftBank talks surfaced. DigitalBridge stock price closed at $14.12, giving the company a market value of $2.58 billion, after it had fallen 13% this year.

Led by Chief Executive Officer Marc Ganzi, DigitalBridge's assets under management were valued at $108 billion at the end of September, as per the website of the company. Its portfolio boasts of digital infrastructure operators including AIMS, AtlasEdge, DataBank, Switch, Vantage Data Centers and Yondr Group.

SoftBank seeks to ride on AI high

Billionaire Masayoshi Son, who leads SoftBank, has been trying to reap benefits of the skyrocketing demand for the computing capacity that forms the base of artificial intelligence applications.

In January, SoftBank announced a $500 billion project called Stargate, alongside OpenAI, Oracle Corp. and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, to build data centres in the United States.

While SoftBank’s Son pledged to deploy $100 billion “immediately,” the rollout of Stargate has been slower than anticipated, partly due to disagreements over where the data centres should be located.

SoftBank initially sought project financing from outside investors including insurance companies, pension funds and investment funds, but some of the conversations slowed due to market volatility, uncertainty around US trade policy and questions about the financial valuations of AI hardware, Bloomberg News reported in May.