A consensus is building that communications infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group could be sold to a larger peer, said industry executives.

The Boca Raton, Florida, firm is a considerable force in the digital infrastructure market, controlling some of the most iconic companies in the industry including data center company Switch, macro tower firm Vertical Bridge and fiber-optics transport operator Zayo Group.

However, its publicly traded shares have declined approximately 60% since reaching USD 33.32 a share on 11 January 2021, with the price closing at USD 13.14 during yesterday’s trading session.

How well its fundraising efforts unfold for its third flagship fund could dictate if a buyer swoops in to buy the firm – which would mark the latest GP to be rolled up into another asset manager in a year-long trend that started with BlackRock buying Global Infrastructure Partners at the onset of 2024.

Sources did not have direct knowledge of DigitalBridge’s view of a potential tie-up.

Shareholder Ave Maria Focused Fund, a mutual fund that owns over 450,000 shares in DigitalBridge, issued a Q3 investor newsletter saying that if the fundraise is “successful” then its stock price could “prove to be quite cheap at current levels.”

“If the raise is unsuccessful, DigitalBridge will likely be bought by a larger competitor,” executives said in the newsletter. “There are reasons to be optimistic about the fund raise.”

Fundraising progress for DigitalBridge Partners III is going slowly, some sources said. Another source, however, said that the vehicle’s capitalization pacing was proceeding well.

Company executives feel confident about reaching the USD 8bn mark at some point in 1Q25, CEO Marc C. Ganzi said during the company’s most recent earnings call last month.

The asset manager is targeting USD 12bn, according to Infralogic data.

Returns on DigitalBridge’s core funds have inspired a slow fundraising process, said one of the sources.

An exit from one of its larger portfolio companies that generates outsized returns could mark an important step for DigitalBridge, instilling confidence in prospective investors and remaining under current ownership, the source added.

There have been rumors that Switch may seek an initial public offering at some point next year that values the company at USD 40bn. DigitalBridge is also pursuing sale processes for wireless firm Boingo, Brazilian firm Scala Data Centers, Latin American-based Andean Telecom Partners and Southeast Asian telco tower company EdgePoint Infrastructure.

DigitalBridge and Ave Maria did not respond to requests for comment.