SoftBank is in discussions to acquire DigitalBridge as part of its renewed focus on AI-era digital infrastructure
The deal remains under negotiation but could close in the near term
DigitalBridge shares soared after reports of the talks emerged
SoftBank Group is mulling yet another acquisition deal as the Masayoshi Son-led company started discussions to acquire DigitalBridge Group, according to Bloomberg reports. DigitalBridge is a private equity firm focused on data centres and other digital infrastructure.
This comes at a time when SoftBank is trying to tap into the growing AI-driven demand for digital infrastructure. The Japanese investment conglomerate is reportedly in talks to make a potential deal to buy the New York-listed DigitalBridge and then taking it private, the report said.
1 December 2025
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The deal is likely to be finalised in the coming weeks, Bloomberg reported. However, SoftBank and DigitalBridge have not officially revealed details of the deal.
The report stated that investors have poured record capital into digital infrastructure in 2025, betting that rising power needs will make data centres some of the most valuable assets. McKinsey estimates that spending on AI-related infrastructure could climb to $6.7 trillion by 2030.
After the news of SoftBank talks surfaced, DigitalBridge shares jumped 45% on Friday, their biggest single-day surge ever. The company’s stock price closed at $14.12, which gave it a market value of $2.58 billion after it had fallen 13% this year.
SoftBank's AI Push
The investor's latest restructuring signals a return to Masayoshi Son's trademark playbook of bold, concentrated bets, mobing on from the broad venture capital style that once drove the Vision Fund. The previous strategy left the group vulnerable, forcing it to sell assets and rebuild reust after heavy losses.
This renewed focus on capital-intensive AI infrastructure underlines where Son believes the next wave of growth lies. He has been funnelling billions into foundation models and infrastructure plays, even when valuations are steep.
Over the past year alone, nearly $9.7 billion has been deployed into OpenAI through Vision Fund 2, which oversees about $65.8 billion in assets. SoftBank is also doubling down on its prized asset, Arm, with a strategy anchored in chips and data infrastructure.
Recent deals include acquiring Graphcore and Ampere Computing, along with taking stakes in Intel and Nvidia. By the end of its March quarter, SoftBank’s ownership of Nvidia Corp had risen to approximately $3 billion, triple the prior quarter, while fresh purchases of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) shares added roughly $330 million to its portfolio.
SoftBank’s planned $6.5 billion acquisition of Ampere Computing LLC and a further $30 billion commitment to OpenAI underline the group’s strategy to dominate both compute infrastructure and AI software.
Together, these moves point to a bid to create a full-stack ecosystem spanning semiconductors, data centers, and AI models to power the next generation of adoption.
