A consortium of investors, which includes U.S. tech majors Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) and is led by giant asset manager BlackRock (BLK), has confirmed previously reported plans to acquire Texas-based Aligned Data Centers. The deal is expected to raise the value of the data center operator to $40 billion.
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The consortium, which also includes BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala’s AI investment subsidiary, MGX, announced the all-stock deal on Wednesday. The AI infrastructure firm will be purchased from Australian asset management firm Macquarie (MQBKY) and its co-investors in the company.
‘The Future of AI Infrastructure’
The consortium has been dubbed Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP). It also includes key backers such as the Kuwait Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, and Temasek, an investment outlet owned by Singapore.
After the acquisition, AIP plans to inject an initial equity capital of $30 billion into Aligned Data Centers, with the possibility of increasing the investment up to $100 billion, plus debt. This is even as AIP sees the U.S. company as “well positioned to anchor [its] vision for the future of AI infrastructure.”
BlackRock’s shares jumped by more than 1% during the first hour of trading on Wednesday, in reaction to the update.
Big Tech and Asset Manager Join Forces
The group in a statement noted that the goal of acquiring the data center infrastructure company is to “fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure”.
Aligned Data Centers designs and builds data centers for AI workloads. It also operates across the U.S. and North and South America, including in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil.
According to the announcement, the U.S. company has 50 data center campuses under its belt and manages more than five gigawatts in both operational and planned power capacity. Arrangements to complete the takeover are expected to be completed during the first six months of next year.
Aligned Data Centers is expected to continue to maintain its base in Dallas, Texas, with continued leadership from its chief executive Andrew Schaap.
The deal comes as Big Tech and top asset managers — ignoring worries of an AI bubble — continue to pour billions of dollars in investment into developing massive AI computing power to stay at the forefront of AI innovation.
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