Dec 5 (Reuters) – SoftBank is in talks to acquire digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, as the Japanese conglomerate seeks to tap the firm’s AI-linked portfolio.
The deal could be struck by the end of the year, the source said. DigitalBridge and SoftBank declined to comment.
Shares of DigitalBridge surged as much as 35%, hitting over a one-month high. The stock has slipped nearly 14% this year as of last close, giving the Boca Raton, Florida-based company a market value of $1.8 billion.
Bloomberg News reported the talks earlier in the day.
Investors have funneled record capital into digital infrastructure this year, wagering that growing power demand will turn data centers into prime real estate. McKinsey projects spending on AI-linked infrastructure could reach $6.7 trillion by 2030.
U.S. President Donald Trump in January hosted top tech CEOs to launch Stargate, a private-sector initiative that plans to spend up to $500 billion to build AI infrastructure.
SoftBank is part of this ambitious project that includes other big names such as OpenAI and Oracle.
DigitalBridge, which is led by CEO Marc Ganzi, is one of the world’s largest dedicated digital infrastructure firms and manages $108 billion in assets.
The firm invests across verticals including data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, small cells and edge infrastructure. Its portfolio of companies includes Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch and AtlasEdge.
Dealmaking involving digital infrastructure platforms has accelerated in recent years as investment firms eye data center holdings to tap growth fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud services and data localization.
BlackRock bought alternative asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners last year, which has since acquired several data center firms, adding AI-linked infrastructure to its portfolio.
(Reporting by David French in New York, Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
Comments