Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment arm, has made an investment in the US-based Aligned Data Centres, as it continues to expand its global digital infrastructure portfolio.
With the latest investment, Mubadala will become a minority stakeholder in the pan-Americas data centre company, alongside majority partners managed by Macquarie Asset Management, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mubadala did not give the size of its stake in Aligned nor the financial details of the transaction.
“Our investment will support Aligned’s rapid expansion, further reinforcing the company’s position as a preferred partner in the Pan-American data centre market,” said Khaled Al Qubaisi, chief executive of real estate and infrastructure investments at Mubadala.
“In addition to Aligned’s continued business growth, we are further excited by its AI-ready status, making it strategically positioned to support infrastructure requirements for a broad set of … services.”
Aligned offers solutions to support global hyperscale and enterprise customers, helping to meet the demand for sustainable and scalable infrastructure.
The company’s footprint will span more than 2.5 gigawatts of critical capacity across more than 40 data centres at full build-out, Mubadala said.
While the majority of the group’s operations are in North America, Aligned has recently expanded into Latin America with its acquisition of LatAm data centre provider Odata.
The deal positions Aligned among the largest private data centre operators in the Americas. Its growing Latin American operations include data centres in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
The partnership with Mubadala will “support Aligned’s continued growth trajectory and expanding data centre platform, as well as a collective focus on building a more sustainable future through innovative, efficient infrastructure”, said Andrew Schaap, chief executive at Aligned.
“This investment is a testament to our … ability to quickly address the growing capacity demands and requirements of our loyal hyperscale and enterprise customers across the Americas.”
The Aligned investment builds on Mubadala’s growing digital infrastructure presence in the US.
In June, Mubadala committed to invest $500 million in the US-based broadband and telecoms services company Brightspeed to take a minority stake.
Mubadala is investing in the company alongside investment funds managed by affiliates of New York-listed Apollo Global Management, it said at the time.
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Brightspeed is the fifth-largest “incumbent local exchange carrier” in the US, with the capability of serving more than 6.5 million homes and businesses in mainly rural and suburban communities in the US Midwest, South-East and parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The recent investments are part of Mubadala’s rapidly expanding global digital infrastructure portfolio.
Mubadala’s real estate and infrastructure investments platform, which focuses at investments in traditional and digital infrastructure around the globe, has a strong deal pipeline, Mr Al Qubaisi told The National in an interview in April.
The platform – one of the four core businesses of Mubadala – has invested about $7 billion since being carved out as a separate pillar in 2021. At any given time, it is actively evaluating 10 deals each in digital and traditional infrastructure sectors, as well as real estate transactions, he said at the time.
Last year, Mubadala invested $350 million into Princeton Digital Group, a pan-Asian data centre company focused on expanding data centre services to meet increasing demand in Asia.
The Abu Dhabi company has also invested £800 million ($1.02 billion) in CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full-fibre platform.
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
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Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
