SoftBank Group is in talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group, a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, as it seeks to take advantage of an AI-driven boom in digital infrastructure, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Japanese conglomerate is negotiating a potential deal to buy New York-listed DigitalBridge and take it private, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. Shares of DigitalBridge have fallen 13% this year, giving the company a market value of about $1.8 billion. They rose as high as 35% on the news and were last trading at $12.63 at 10:40 a.m. in New York.
SoftBank’s billionaire founder Masayoshi Son is trying to capitalize on soaring demand for the computing capacity that underpins artificial intelligence applications. A transaction could come together as soon as the coming weeks, though deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they will lead to an agreement, the people said.
AloJapan.com