Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group moved on its long-rumored acquisition of data center and network infrastructure firm DigitalBridge for a cool $4 billion.

The deal will see the Japan-based telecom and investment giant acquire all outstanding DigitalBridge common stock for $16 per share. That price is a 15% premium over DigitalBridge’s share price prior to the deal being officially announced, and a 50% premium over where DigitalBridge’s stock was trading as of December 4.

That date is significant as it was when rumors first surfaced of SoftBank’s interest in DigitalBridge.

The deal has been approved by DigitalBridge’s board of directors and is expected to close in the second half of 2026. DigitalBridges will continue to operate as a “separately managed platform” led by current CEO Marc Ganzi.

What is SoftBank getting?

SoftBank touted DigitalBridge’s infrastructure as being key to its AI-based ambitions.

“As AI transforms industries worldwide, we need more compute, connectivity, power, and scalable infrastructure,” Son noted in a statement. “DigitalBridge is a leader in digital infrastructure, and this acquisition will strengthen the foundation for next-generation AI data centers, advance our vision to become a leading ASI platform provider, and help unlock breakthroughs that move humanity forward.”

DigitalBridge manages more than $100 billion in assets, including AIMS, AtlasEdge, DataBank, Switch, Takanock, Vantage Data Centers, and Yondr Group. It also had 5.4 gigawatts (GWs) of data center capacity in development or operation.

That data center capacity includes a near-gigawatt facility in Wisconsin that it linked to the SoftBank-backed Stargate project. That project is centered on OpenAI’s plan to invest $500 billion into AI infrastructure over the next few years.

SoftBank has reportedly been scrambling to secure the needed $30 billion investment in that venture, which has seen the company sell its stake in Nvidia for $5.83 billion and a portion of its stake in T-Mobile US for $9.2 billion.