BlackRock-Led Consortium Acquires Aligned Data Centers for $40 Billion in Record AI Infrastructure Deal

Published:
  Lastmod: 2025-10-22
Random Notes
by Ernest Chiang

Post Title Image (Illustration: Aligned Data Centers. Image source: Aligned Data Centers.)

✳️ tl;dr

  • AIP, MGX, and GIP formed a consortium to acquire Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion 12
  • This marks AIP’s (AI Infrastructure Partnership) first investment since its establishment
  • AIP was founded by BlackRock, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and MGX in September 2024 3
  • AIP targets mobilizing $30 billion in equity capital, with potential to reach $100 billion including debt financing
  • Aligned owns 50 campuses with over 5 GW of operational and planned capacity across key digital hubs in the US and Latin America
  • The hyperscale data center market is projected to reach $167.3 billion in 2025
  • Growing at a 23.58% CAGR to $602.4 billion by 2030 4
  • Global data center electricity consumption is expected to double from 415 TWh in 2024 to 945 TWh in 2030, accounting for 3% of global electricity usage 5
  • Aligned holds over 50 patented cooling technologies, including air, liquid, and hybrid cooling systems designed specifically for high-density AI workloads 16
  • NVIDIA’s latest GB200 chip requires power density up to 120 kilowatts per rack, making liquid cooling essential for racks above 20 kilowatts 78
  • Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore’s Temasek serve as anchor investors in AIP, demonstrating sovereign wealth funds’ long-term commitment to AI infrastructure 23
  • Notably, Macquarie Asset Management first invested in Aligned in 2018, expanding it from 2 facilities to 50 campuses over 7 years, achieving an exit valuation of approximately $40 billion 910
  • Major tech companies are expected to invest $400 billion in AI infrastructure in 2025, with OpenAI’s Stargate initiative alone reaching $500 billion 211
  • US data center power demand is projected to double from 35 GW in 2024 to 78 GW by 2035, with average hourly electricity consumption tripling 12
  • For you as a manager: Macquarie entered investments (in multiple data center companies) in 2018 and exited 7 years later. As we approach 2026, have you activated your radar to identify targets for the next 3-5 years?

✳️ Knowledge Graph

(More about Knowledge Graph…)

%%{init: {'theme':'default'}}%%
graph LR
    AIP[AI Infrastructure Partnership]:::instance
    BlackRock[BlackRock]:::instance
    MGX[MGX]:::instance
    GIP[Global Infrastructure Partners]:::instance
    Microsoft[Microsoft]:::instance
    NVIDIA[NVIDIA]:::instance
    Aligned[Aligned Data Centers]:::instance
    Macquarie[Macquarie Asset Management]:::instance
    KIA[Kuwait Investment Authority]:::instance
    Temasek[Temasek]:::instance
    OpenAI[OpenAI]:::instance
    xAI[xAI]:::instance

    AIInfra[AI Infrastructure]:::concept
    DataCenter[Data Centers]:::concept
    Cooling[Cooling Technology]:::concept
    PrivateEquity[Private Equity]:::concept
    Computing[Computing Capacity]:::concept
    CloudInfra[Cloud Infrastructure]:::concept
    AssetMgmt[Asset Management]:::concept
    Energy[Energy Enablement]:::concept

    BlackRock -->|co-founded in 2024| AIP
    MGX -->|co-founded in 2024| AIP
    Microsoft -->|co-founded in 2024| AIP
    NVIDIA -->|co-founded in 2024| AIP
    GIP -->|part of| BlackRock
    GIP -->|co-founded in 2024| AIP

    KIA -->|anchor investor| AIP
    Temasek -->|anchor investor| AIP
    xAI -->|backed by| AIP

    Macquarie -->|owned 2018-2025| Aligned
    Macquarie -->|sells for $40B| AIP
    AIP -->|acquires for $40B| Aligned

    Aligned -->|operates 50 campuses| DataCenter
    Aligned -->|implements 50+ patents| Cooling
    Aligned -->|provides 5+ GW| Computing

    AIP -->|first investment in| AIInfra
    DataCenter -->|supports| AIInfra
    Cooling -->|enables high-density| Computing
    Energy -->|powers| DataCenter

    Microsoft -->|requires| CloudInfra
    NVIDIA -->|provides GPUs for| Computing
    OpenAI -->|consumes 26 GW of| Computing

    Macquarie -->|manages $588B via| AssetMgmt
    AIP -->|deploys $30B| PrivateEquity

    CloudInfra -->|runs on| DataCenter
    AIInfra -->|depends on| DataCenter

    classDef concept fill:#FF8000,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#000
    classDef instance fill:#0080FF,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff

%%{init: {'theme':'default'}}%%
graph TD
    AIP[AIP Initial Target: $30B Equity Capital]

    Debt[Plus Debt Financing]

    Total[Total Potential: $100B]

    First[First Investment: Aligned Acquisition $40B Enterprise Value]

    Anchors[Anchor Investors: Kuwait Investment Authority Temasek]

    Founders[Founding Partners: BlackRock, GIP, MGX Microsoft, NVIDIA]

    Tech[Technology Partners: Cisco, GE Vernova NextEra Energy]

    Founders --> AIP
    Anchors --> AIP
    Tech -.supports.-> AIP
    AIP --> Debt
    AIP --> Total
    AIP --> First

    style AIP fill:#0080FF,color:#fff
    style Total fill:#FF8000
    style First fill:#FFD700

%%{init: {'theme':'default'}}%%
graph LR
    Aligned[Aligned Data Centers Founded 2013]

    Capacity[Total Capacity: 5+ Gigawatts]

    Campus[50 Campuses ~80 Facilities]

    US[US Locations: Northern Virginia Chicago, Dallas Phoenix, Salt Lake City]

    LATAM[Latin America: Sao Paulo Brazil Queretaro Mexico Santiago Chile]

    Tech[Technology: 50+ Patents Air/Liquid/Hybrid Cooling]

    Customers[Customers: Hyperscalers Nutanix, Datto]

    Aligned --> Capacity
    Aligned --> Campus
    Campus --> US
    Campus --> LATAM
    Aligned --> Tech
    Aligned --> Customers

    style Aligned fill:#0080FF,color:#fff
    style Capacity fill:#FF8000
    style Tech fill:#90EE90

%%{init: {'theme':'default'}}%%
graph TD
    Market[AI Infrastructure Market $400B spending 2025]

    Tech[Big Tech Investors: Alphabet, Amazon Meta, Microsoft CoreWeave]

    OpenAI_Deal[OpenAI Deals: 26 GW Capacity $1T+ Cost Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom]

    Meta_DC[Meta Data Centers: Prometheus 2026 Hyperion 5 GW]

    Aligned_Acq[Aligned Acquisition: $40B Deal 5 GW Capacity]

    Competitors[Public Competitors: Applied Digital 400%+ stock growth]

    Market --> Tech
    Market --> OpenAI_Deal
    Market --> Meta_DC
    Market --> Aligned_Acq
    Market --> Competitors

    style Market fill:#FF8000
    style OpenAI_Deal fill:#FFD700
    style Meta_DC fill:#87CEEB
    style Aligned_Acq fill:#90EE90

✳️ Further Reading

  1. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251014427963/en/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/blackrock-nvidia-buy-aligned-data-centers-40-billion-deal-2025-10-15/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/ai-infrastructure-partnership ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/hyperscale-datacenter-market ↩︎

  5. https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/energy-demand-from-ai ↩︎

  6. https://blog.stulz-usa.com/hybrid-data-center-cooling ↩︎

  7. https://www.networkworld.com/article/3978673/liquid-cooling-becoming-essential-as-ai-servers-proliferate.html ↩︎

  8. https://blog.se.com/datacenter/2025/10/17/schneider-electric-delivers-as-liquid-cooling-takes-center-stage-in-ai-data-centers/ ↩︎

  9. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251015016099/en/ ↩︎

  10. https://www.macquarie.com/us/en/insights/accelerating-the-growth-of-aligned-data-centres-a-market-leading-data-centre-platform-in-the-americas.html ↩︎

  11. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/ ↩︎

  12. https://about.bnef.com/insights/commodities/power-for-ai-easier-said-than-built/ ↩︎