SoftBank acquires Digital Bridge for 58 trillion KRW… Betting on AI infrastructure

SoftBank Group has decided to acquire DigitalBridge, a private equity fund focused on AI infrastructure investments, officially initiating its global technology infrastructure market expansion. The total transaction amount is $4.04 billion (approximately 58.2 trillion KRW), with SoftBank purchasing DigitalBridge at $16 per share in cash. This price represents a premium of about 16% over DigitalBridge’s stock price before the acquisition news was leaked.

DigitalBridge currently manages assets worth $108 billion (approximately 155 trillion KRW), with a portfolio including core assets such as Vantage Data Centers, which participated in the construction of the OpenAI Midwest supercomputing campus. The AI campus in Wisconsin is valued at over $15 billion, with plans to build four AI data centers with a combined computing capacity of nearly 1GW. Additionally, the “Frontier” project in Texas, planned separately, is advancing the construction of 10 data centers with a budget of about $25 billion.

DigitalBridge also holds shares in more than ten telecommunications infrastructure companies, including AtlasEdge, which is building “edge” data centers in the UK, and Boeing Global Wireless, which provides communication towers and airport Wi-Fi infrastructure. Through this acquisition, SoftBank will gain an extended technology pipeline beyond just data center services, covering infrastructure loans and startup investments.

Regarding the acquisition, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son emphasized: “DigitalBridge is a company leading the era of digital infrastructure. This acquisition will strengthen the foundation for the AI data center era, bringing us closer to the vision of an ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) platform.” He added, “This deal will be a decisive turning point in accelerating human innovation.”

SoftBank plans to retain the original management team after acquiring DigitalBridge, with CEO Mark Ganzi continuing in his role. In the future, SoftBank’s SB Energy may supply renewable energy to DigitalBridge’s data centers or enhance chip scalability by applying the intellectual property of its semiconductor design subsidiary, Arm Holdings. The potential for related collaborations is also highly anticipated.

This acquisition comes amid accelerating competition among tech giants to control the AI infrastructure supply chain and is expected to be a turning point for SoftBank’s return to the core stage of the technology investment market. The transaction is planned to be completed in the second half of 2026, and after the acquisition, SoftBank is expected to take more active actions in the AI and digital infrastructure fields.