BlackRock is in talks to take over Aligned Data Centres for $40 billion

BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners is engaged in advanced talks with Aligned Data Centres, a leading infrastructure company, to finalize a deal to purchase it for $40 billion. 

BlackRock’s interest in the company grew after a report from reliable sources revealed that Aligned Data Centres successfully raised $12 billion. Notably, this is more than what several leading AI startups have gathered in a single funding round.

This fundraising aimed to significantly expand the company’s footprint amid growing demand for facilities that support AI systems. This deal could become one of the largest transactions of the year and possibly the largest ever for any data centre firm.
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BlackRock to strike a deal with Aligned Data Centres in the AI boom era 

Sources familiar with the situation have noted that BlackRock’s acquisition plans highlight the eagerness of investors to make substantial investments in firms considered crucial for the AI surge.

To support this claim, AI-related businesses have already generated $141 billion in corporate credit this year, exceeding a total debt of $127 billion encountered last year, according to Goldman Sachs’s report dated Thursday, October 2.

Meanwhile, as tech companies uphold their commitment to invest hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars in physical infrastructure for AI, there is an escalating need for firms like Aligned that can fulfil these demands. This remains a fact even though Aligned is still planning for most of its data centre capacity and setting targets for the income it will generate.

Ari Klein, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, weighed in on the matter, noting that Aligned has “several activities planned.” He added that companies are prepared to invest further in these initiatives and the opportunities they may create.

Founded in 2013, roughly ten years before the era of generative AI, Aligned has always prioritised the establishment of custom data centres for businesses, focusing on efficiency and sustainability.

The company’s website revealed that it receives a strong support system from Macquarie Asset Management and manages or is creating 78 data centres across the Americas.

Aligned intends to build bigger and more numerous data centres 

Like other data centre providers, Aligned has encountered new pressure to build numerous data centres over the past years as AI becomes increasingly adopted.

In January, Aligned said it had raised $12 billion in equity and debt financing to expedite its efforts to construct 5 gigawatts of data centre capacity — enough power to run half New York City on a hot day.

In a social media post at the time, Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Data Centres, mentioned that this investment aimed to help the company capitalize on the increasing demand for AI-ready infrastructure. “Aligned is ready to seize this opportunity,” he said.

However, the main challenge is that building data centres of the required infrastructure takes time, including power supplies. Today, Aligned has more than 600 megawatts of operational data centre capacity, and another 700 megawatts under construction, according to the firm DC Byte, which tracks the market.

Despite this, DC Byte founder Edward Galvin noted that Aligned still operates on a decent-sized scale.

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