A consortium backed by BlackRock and Abu Dhabi's MGX has made a commitment to invest $5 billion in the expansion of Aligned Data Centres after completing the acquisition of one of the world's largest and fastest-growing data centre developers.
Also part of the consortium is the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP).
The group of companies bought US-based Aligned from Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management and other co-investors at an enterprise value of $40 billion, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday.
Aligned has a portfolio spanning 51 campuses and more than 6.4 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity. The deal was announced last year.
Its assets are based in key digital-gateway regions of the US, including northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix and Salt Lake City, as well as in Sao Paulo in Brazil, Queretaro in Mexico and Santiago in Chile.
The company is known for its patented cooling technology that reduces water usage and boosts the energy efficiency of data centres.
Aligned’s chief executive Andrew Schaap and the existing management team will continue to lead the company, which will retain it headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the statement read.
“With the consortium's support, Aligned will continue expanding its footprint to deliver cutting-edge infrastructure to support the complex digital requirements of a growing customer base,” the companies said.
AIP was set up to accelerate investment in next-generation AI infrastructure and advance the innovation needed to power the future of AI. It aims to mobilise $30 billion of equity capital from investors, asset owners and corporations, with the potential to reach $100 billion, including debt financing.
Established in 2024, MGX is a private investment firm with Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company and AI and cloud computing firm G42 as partners. It is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser.
The company has been investing heavily in AI. In May, it touted its participation in US-based AI giant Anthropic's $65 billion H funding round. MGX also participated in Anthropic's earlier Series G funding round.
It also raised $49 billion from global investors for its AI-focused fund, boosting the firm's growing role in the sector.
The amount raised by MGX Fund I was significantly more than its initial $45 billion target, the company said this month.
Last year, MGX made a major investment in OpenAI during a funding round that valued the AI company at $300 billion. The Abu Dhabi company also revealed an investment of $2 billion in Binance, the first institutional investment in the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
