SoftBank Pays $4B for DigitalBridge to Scale AI Data Centers
SoftBank acquires data center investor DigitalBridge at a 50% premium to its 52-week average, adding $108B in infrastructure assets to its AI ambitions.
SoftBank wants to own the picks and shovels of the AI boom.
The Japanese conglomerate announced Monday it will acquire DigitalBridge Group, a leading digital infrastructure investor, for $4 billion in cash. The deal values DigitalBridge at $16 per share—a 50% premium to its 52-week average and 15% above Friday's close.
The acquisition gives SoftBank control of roughly $108 billion in assets under management, spanning data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, and edge infrastructure across the globe.
The Strategic Logic
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has bet heavily on artificial intelligence for years. But training and deploying AI models requires physical infrastructure—servers, power, cooling, connectivity. DigitalBridge owns stakes in the companies that build and operate exactly that.
The portfolio includes Vantage Data Centers, Switch, DataBank, AtlasEdge, and Yondr Group. These aren't speculative plays. They're cash-generating assets with long-term contracts and sticky customers.
"The planned acquisition of DigitalBridge will strengthen SoftBank Group's ability to build, scale, and finance the foundational infrastructure needed for next-generation AI services and applications," the company said in its announcement.
DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi will continue running the platform as a separately managed business after the deal closes.
Why Now
The timing reflects both opportunity and urgency.
AI workloads are straining existing data center capacity. Hyperscalers like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are racing to secure power and space for new facilities. Nvidia's chips need homes, and those homes need to be built.
DigitalBridge has spent years assembling expertise in exactly this buildout. Its team knows how to source land, negotiate power contracts, and manage construction at scale. For SoftBank, buying that capability is faster than building it.
The 50% premium to the 52-week average looks expensive until you consider what DigitalBridge controls. At $108 billion in AUM, SoftBank is paying roughly 3.7 cents on the dollar for access to those assets—plus the management fees and carried interest that come with them.
Deal Terms and Timeline
Under the agreement, SoftBank will acquire all outstanding DigitalBridge common stock at $16 per share. The deal was unanimously approved by a special committee of independent directors and the full board.
Closing is expected in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. DigitalBridge shares jumped 14% in premarket trading on the news.
What It Means for AI Infrastructure
This deal consolidates more AI infrastructure under fewer owners. SoftBank already holds stakes in Arm, the chip designer whose architecture powers most mobile devices and an increasing share of AI accelerators. Adding DigitalBridge creates vertical integration from silicon design to the buildings that house the servers.
The acquisition also signals that the infrastructure bottleneck isn't easing. If it were, SoftBank wouldn't be paying a 50% premium. The bet is that data center demand will keep growing faster than supply for years—and that owning the supply will prove more valuable than renting it.
For investors in other data center plays, the deal provides a valuation benchmark. Equinix, Digital Realty, and similar REITs now have a fresh comparable transaction to consider.
The Bottom Line
SoftBank is doubling down on AI's physical layer. The DigitalBridge acquisition adds proven operators, existing assets, and development pipelines to a portfolio already heavy on AI bets. Whether that concentration pays off depends on whether the AI buildout continues at its current pace—or accelerates.
Based on Monday's premarket activity, the market thinks the premium was fair.