BlackRock-Led Consortium Acquires Aligned Data Centers for $40 Billion
BlackRock and a consortium of tech giants agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion to expand global AI computing infrastructure.
An investor consortium known as the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), led by BlackRock, has agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management in a deal valued at approximately $40 billion. The coalition includes technology giants Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as MGX, xAI, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and Temasek. This transaction marks the first major investment for AIP, which aims to mobilize $30 billion in equity and up to $70 billion in debt to expand AI infrastructure.
Aligned Data Centers, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, operates approximately 50 campuses across the United States and Latin America, including sites in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. The company provides over 5 gigawatts of capacity for hyperscalers and cloud providers. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals, with CEO Andrew Schaap and the current management team remaining in place.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink defended the massive expenditure against concerns of an AI bubble, stating such investments are essential for the U.S. to maintain global leadership in AI technology. Ben Way, head of Macquarie Asset Management, characterized the sale as a timely exit after seven years of ownership rather than a sign that the data center boom has peaked. The acquisition reflects a broader industry race to secure the land, power, and compute capacity required for next-generation artificial intelligence workloads.
