AIP to Acquire Aligned Data Centers for $40 Billion
The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) – MGX, and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) – has announced that it will acquire 100% of the equity in Dallas-based Aligned Data Centers from private infrastructure funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management and it’s co invest partners.
The transaction will fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure and implies an Aligned enterprise value of approximately $40 billion.
AIP was founded by BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock, MGX, Microsoft, and NVIDIA to expand capacity of AI infrastructure and help shape the future of AI-driven economic growth. Its financial anchor investors include the sovereign wealth funds of Kuwait and Singapore – Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and Temasek – respectively.
In less than a decade, Aligned Data Centers has evolved into one of the largest and fastest growing companies globally. It designs, builds, and operates cutting-edge data campuses and data centers for the world’s premier hyper-scalers, neo-cloud, and enterprise innovators.
Aligned’s portfolio includes 50 campuses and more than 5 GW of operational and planned capacity, including assets under development, primarily located in key Tier I digital gateway regions across the US and Latin America including Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Queretaro (Mexico), and Santiago (Chile).
Aligned’s rapid expansion has been fuelled by strong execution and operating capabilities and has consistently met hyper-scalers’ complex requirements, working hand-in-hand with customers to stay agile and innovate around their evolving needs.
Its Gigascale, Build-to-Scale, and Multi-Tenant Enterprise solutions leverage patented and patent-pending air, liquid, and hybrid cooling systems to deliver maximum adaptability and support evolving high-density AI workloads, even in energy-constrained regions.
Additionally, the company’s robust supply chain, strong partnerships, strategic land acquisitions, and energy enablement drive leading efficiency and reliability. Aligned also benefits from access to multiple sources of capital, providing financial flexibility for future growth.
MGX and GIP brings deep expertise and capabilities across AI and digital infrastructure. This includes AIP’s strategic partnership group and ability to form capital at scale, MGX’s leading global investment focus on AI and advanced technologies, and GIP’s long track record as a leading infrastructure investor with experience owning and operating some of the world’s most complex infrastructure assets.
The transaction is AIP’s first investment and an important step towards its initial target of mobilising and deploying $30 billion of equity capital, with the potential of reaching $100 billion including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Accelerating AI Innovation
BlackRock CEO and GIP Chairman Larry Fink said that AIP is positioned to meet the growing demand for the infrastructure required as AI continues to reshape the global economy. 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, he said.
MGX Managing Director and CEO and AIP Vice Chairman Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi said that they have entered a new era in which AI will fundamentally reengineer global 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,” he added.
Aligned Data Centers CEO Andrew Schaap said that partnering with the AIP consortium will accelerate their 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, they were poised to scale faster, innovate further, and redefine what’s possible in sustainable data center infrastructure, he added.
