BlackRock and MGX Close $40 Billion Aligned Data Centers Deal, Commit $5 Billion More

Aligned Data Centers sold for $40bn in record deal

The biggest data-centre deal in history just closed, and the buyers immediately wrote another cheque. A consortium led by BlackRock and Abu Dhabi's MGX has taken over Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion, then added $5 billion more to build faster. It is the clearest sign yet of how much money is chasing AI's physical backbone. On Tuesday, a group of the world's most powerful investors finished buying a company most people have never heard of. The price tag explains why it matters. The largest data-centre deal ever The AI Infrastructure Partnership, MGX, and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners completed their purchase of all the equity in Aligned Data Centers. The deal values the Texas developer at about $40 billion, the largest data-centre acquisition on record. The seller, Macquarie Asset Management, had owned Aligned since 2018. Back then it ran two sites and 85 megawatts of capacity. Today it spans 51 campuses and more than 6.4 gigawatts, live or planned, across the US and South America. Then another $5 billion Closing the deal was not the end of the spending. The consortium also committed a fresh $5 billion in growth capital to expand Aligned's AI-ready capacity, as Bloomberg reported. That is the point of the exercise. The buyers are betting that demand for computing power will keep outrunning supply, and that whoever owns the buildings with power and cooling holds something scarce. Who is buying The line-up is a who's who of capital. AIP was formed in 2024 by BlackRock, GIP, MGX, Microsoft, and Nvidia. This is its first deal, a down payment on a plan to raise $30 billion in equity and up to $100 billion including debt. MGX brings the sovereign money. Chaired by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, it is backed by Mubadala and G42. This month it raised $49 billion for one of the largest AI funds ever. GIP, part of BlackRock, manages over $200 billion. The land grab The deal caps a frenzy. Firms from KKR to Brookfield have piled into digital infrastructure, and Blackstone paid about $10 billion for QTS back in 2021. AI has turned data centres into some of the most sought-after assets in finance. Aligned's pitch is efficiency: more than 50 patents on cooling that cuts water and power use, a growing concern as vast campuses strain local grids. Chief executive Andrew Schaap and his team stay on. The bigger bet The scale is staggering, but it rests on an assumption. If AI demand keeps climbing, $45 billion looks cheap for 6.4 gigawatts. If it stalls, the same buildings become an expensive wager, echoing louder warnings that the boom could turn. For now, the money is voting with its chequebook.

BlackRock-backed group commits $5 billion for Aligned Data Centers after completing acquisition

A consortium backed by BlackRock and Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX said on Tuesday it has committed an additional $5 billion in growth capital to Aligned Data Centers after closing its $40 billion acquisition of one of the world's biggest data center operators. The investor group agreed last year to buy Aligned from Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management MQG.AX, as it seeks to secure computing capacity for AI. * Latest technology news on BNNBloomberg.ca Founded in 2013, the Texas-based company builds and operates data centers for hyperscalers and cloud computing companies. It has 51 data center campuses and more than 6.4 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity globally. Andrew Schaap, chief executive of Aligned Data Centers since 2017, will continue to lead the company. The group aims to deploy $30 billion of equity capital initially, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt. The acquisition adds to a wave of investment in digital infrastructure as companies expand computing capacity for AI tools such as ChatGPT.