AI, BlackRock leads $40bn acquisition of Aligned Data Centers
Also participating in the investment will be MGX, a company founded by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co.
In the last few hours, a group of investors led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) (a subsidiary of BlackRock) has announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Aligned Data Centers in an operation worth a total of USD 40 billion. Figures to which the world that gravitates around AI has accustomed us.
It should be noted that MGX, a company founded by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and focused on AI development, will also participate in the investment.
In more detail, the buyer group will take over Aligned from Macquarie Asset Management, which had made its first investment in the company in 2018.
Numbers in hand, the deal represents the largest data centre acquisition ever and aims to capture one of the main side effects of the explosion in global spending on artificial intelligence. Texas-based Aligned operates in the United States and South America, and manages 50 campuses and 78 data centres between operational facilities and those under development, according to the company's website. Last January, the company had already raised more than $12 billion in equity and debt from investors including funds managed by Macquarie itself.
The closing of the deal is scheduled for the first half of 2026, according to the buyer consortium. And it will mark yet another move in a rising wave of acquisitions and investments in the AI sector. A situation, that of the growing value of AI-related companies, which has, however, raised concerns among some analysts that the current rush of infrastructure expansion could outstrip the real demand for AI services, which has not yet reached full monetisation on a large scale.
