July 21 (Reuters) – A consortium backed by BlackRock and Abu Dhabi-based fund MGX said on Tuesday it has committed an additional $5 billion in growth capital to Aligned Data Centers after closing its $40 billion acquisition of one of the world’s biggest data center operators.
The investor group agreed last year to buy Aligned from Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management, as it seeks to secure computing capacity for AI.
Founded in 2013, the Texas-based company builds and operates data centers for hyperscalers and cloud computing companies. It has 51 data center campuses and more than 6.4 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity globally.
Andrew Schaap, chief executive of Aligned Data Centers since 2017, will continue to lead the company.
The group aims to deploy $30 billion of equity capital initially, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt.
The acquisition adds to a wave of investment in digital infrastructure as companies expand computing capacity for AI tools such as ChatGPT.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim ZAhid)
