The digital-infrastructure investment firm has every approval it needs to be taken private at $16 a share in cash, with closing expected within days. The buyer is a strategic investor, not a private equity sponsor.
DigitalBridge Group has received all regulatory approvals required to complete its sale to SoftBank Group, clearing the way for an all-cash deal at $16 a share to close within the next several days.
The company said it has obtained clearance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and antitrust authorities. Under the merger agreement, the transaction is expected to close within five business days. Once it does, DigitalBridge's common stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
Holders of the company's Series H, I and J preferred stock will receive change-of-control notices and a choice on whether to convert. Preferred shares whose holders do not elect to convert are expected to remain outstanding on their existing terms, an important detail for income investors who own those securities rather than the common.
The identity of the buyer is what makes this deal worth a closer look. DigitalBridge is a publicly traded alternative-asset manager focused on digital infrastructure. Here, the buyer is SoftBank, a strategic technology investor rather than a private equity sponsor.
That choice suggests SoftBank may value DigitalBridge as much for its platform as for its fee stream. Owning a manager that raises capital for and operates digital infrastructure could give SoftBank a more direct line into the physical build-out behind the technologies it backs.
For investors tracking private markets, the deal is a data point on how digital-infrastructure platforms are being valued by buyers who need the underlying assets, rather than by sponsors who plan to resell them. With regulatory risk now removed, the remaining question for DigitalBridge's common shareholders is simply timing. For its preferred holders, the decision on whether to convert is the one to watch in the days ahead.