TOKYO, JAPAN – OCTOBER 04: SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the SoftBank World 2023 on October 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. The event will be held until October 06. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
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SoftBank Group—controlled by billionaire Masayoshi Son—is doubling down on its investments in AI infrastructure with a $4 billion deal, including debt, to buy Florida-based data center investment firm DigitalBridge Group.
Under the deal, SoftBank will buy all the shares of DigitalBridge at $16 apiece in cash, 15% above the stock’s closing price last Friday, before the deal was announced. DigitalBridge closed 9.6% higher at $15.26 at the close of New York trading yesterday.
“As AI transforms industries worldwide, we need more compute, connectivity, power, and scalable infrastructure,” Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group said in a statement. “DigitalBridge is a leader in digital infrastructure, and this acquisition will strengthen the foundation for next-generation AI data centers.”
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and slated to be completed by mid-2026. DigitalBridge, which currently manages $108 billion of digital infrastructure assets that include data centers, cellular towers and fiber optic networks, will continue to operate as a separately managed platform under its current CEO, Marc Ganzi.
“SoftBank shares our DNA as builders and long-term investors committed to scaling transformational digital infrastructure,” Ganzi said. DigitalBridge owns stakes in major data center operators including Vantage Data Centers and Yondr.
With a real-time net worth of $56.6 billion according to Forbes’ data, Son is deepening his bets on AI. Last month, SoftBank sold its entire Nvidia stake for $5.8 billion to help fund its massive investment in OpenAI, in which it has committed $30 billion. The group is also backing OpenAI’s Stargate AI-powered data center project in the U.S. and recently completed the $6.5 billion acquisition of U.S. chip designer Ampere Computing.