A global consortium including BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Kuwait Investment Authority, Singapore state-owned Temasek and technology investor MGX is acquiring an Americas data-centre developer from Macquarie Asset Management in a $40bn (€34.4bn) deal.
The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), which is also backed by Microsoft and NVIDIA, has agreed to buy Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie-managed infrastructure funds and co-investment partners.
The Aligned Data Centers portfolio includes 50 campuses and more than 5GW of operational and planned capacity.
The assets, which include those under development, are located in major digital gateway regions across the US, including Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix and Salt Lake City, and in Latin America, including Sao Paulo in Brazil, Queretaro in Mexico and Santiago in Chile.
The deal gives Aligned Data Centers a $40bn enterprise value.
Formed in September 2023 by BlackRock, GIP, MGX and Microsoft, AIP seeks to mobilise capital from global investors targeting AI sector infrastructure. The acquisition of Aligned Data Centers is AIP’s first investment and contributes to its initial target of deploying $30bn in equity capital, which could scale up to $100bn, including debt financing.
Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock and chairman of AIP, said: “This partnership is bringing together leading companies and mobilising private capital to accelerate AI innovation and drive global economic growth and productivity.
“With this investment in Aligned Data Centers, we further our goal of delivering the infrastructure necessary to power the future of AI, while offering our clients attractive opportunities to participate in its growth.”
Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi, managing director and CEO of MGX and vice chairman of AIP, said: “We are entering a new era in which AI will fundamentally reengineer our economies and enable accelerated growth. Compute infrastructure at scale will be foundational to that progress.
“Our investment in Aligned Data Centers will direct scalable capital to an operator built for efficiency and growth, with the mission to deliver the infrastructure needed to support global AI adoption.”
Bayo Ogunlesi, chairman and CEO of GIP, said: “AI is reshaping every sector of the global economy. By combining Aligned’s scalable, adaptable platform with AIP’s capital and capabilities, we will build the infrastructure to support innovation at scale – creating resilient, sustainable communities and unlocking transformative growth worldwide.”
Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Data Centers, said: “Partnering with the consortium will accelerate our mission to deliver the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s digital economy.
“With AIP, MGX and GIP’s global reach, extensive resources and deep expertise across AI, energy and finance, we are poised to scale faster, innovate further and redefine what’s possible in sustainable data-centre infrastructure.”
The deal is Macquarie’s second major data centre sale in the last year, following the 2024 sale of AirTrunk to a consortium of investors for a reported $16bn enterprise value.
For over two decades, Macquarie has been a global investor in digital infrastructure, with a portfolio spanning data centre operators including AirTrunk, Aligned, Applied Digital, Bohao, Hanam, Netrality, and VIRTUS, as well as fibre networks and cell towers.
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