SoftBank has reportedly halted discussions over a $50 billion bid for US data center firm Switch.

Financial and logistical hurdles are said to have scuppered the proposed deal, according to sources that briefed Bloomberg.

Reports that the companies were in talks about a takeover surfaced in December. SoftBank has since announced the planned purchase of DigitalBridge, Switch’s majority shareholder.

Switch operates data centers across the US, and SoftBank’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is said to have seen the company as a vehicle to help provide capacity for OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate digital infrastructure project, of which SoftBank is a key backer.

However, according to Bloomberg, SoftBank insiders are said to have raised concerns about financing the $50 billion deal, as well as the challenges it would have faced managing Switch’s large network of data centers.

Meanwhile, Switch has other irons in the fire, with Rob Roy’s firm said to be mulling an IPO that could value the business at up to $60 billion. The company was delisted from the public markets in 2022 when current owners DigitalBridge and IFM took the company private for $11 billion.

Switch declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg, while SoftBank initially failed to respond to the news agency.

Founded by Roy in 2000, Switch operates large 'Prime' data center campuses in Austin, Texas; Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Atlanta, Georgia. Over the last year, it has filed to expand further in Austin and Atlanta.

In July, it announced it was developing smaller, denser data centers specifically for AI workloads.

Its Core Campus, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, will have up to 495MW of power upon full build-out.

SoftBank plans to acquire DigitalBridge, the digital infrastructure investment firm that owns a majority stake in Switch, for $4 billion. This deal covers the DigitalBridge organization itself, not its assets under management, which include Switch and are valued at $108 billion.