- The consortium acquired 100% of Aligned Data Centers equity at an enterprise value of approximately $40 billion, the largest data center deal on record [1] - AIP, MGX, and BlackRock's GIP committed an additional $5 billion in growth capital to fund Aligned's expansion and AI-ready capacity [2] - Aligned operates 51 campuses with more than 6.4GW of operational and planned capacity across the U.S. and Latin America [1] - AIP — founded by BlackRock, GIP, MGX, Microsoft, and Nvidia — targets $30 billion in equity and up to $100 billion including debt for digital infrastructure [3] - Macquarie Asset Management and co-invest partners were the sellers; CEO Andrew Schaap and the existing management team remain in place
[1] The AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), Abu Dhabi-based MGX, and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) have completed their acquisition of 100% of the equity in Aligned Data Centers at an enterprise value of approximately $40 billion, the three parties announced on July 21 [1]. The transaction, first disclosed in October 2025, is the largest private investment ever made in digital infrastructure, more than doubling the $16.6 billion Blackstone paid for Asia-Pacific operator AirTrunk in 2024
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[4]Macquarie Asset Management and its co-invest partners sold the Dallas-based platform, which has grown to 51 campuses with more than 6.4 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity spread across Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and three Latin American markets — São Paulo, Querétaro, and Santiago [1]. The consortium has committed an additional $5 billion in growth capital to fund Aligned's continued expansion
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[2]CEO Andrew Schaap and the existing management team will remain in place, and Aligned will keep its headquarters in Dallas [1]. The acquisition marks AIP's first major deployment of capital since the partnership was formed by BlackRock, GIP, MGX, Microsoft, and Nvidia to channel institutional money into AI infrastructure
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[3]## The Deal Terms The $40 billion enterprise value encompasses Aligned's full equity stake, transferred from private infrastructure funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management. On top of the acquisition price, AIP, MGX, and GIP pledged $5 billion in growth capital — bringing total committed capital associated with the transaction to $45 billion [1] [2].
AIP was established in late 2025 with a mandate to mobilize $30 billion in equity capital, with the potential to reach $100 billion including debt financing, for global digital infrastructure buildout. Its founding members include BlackRock, GIP, MGX, Microsoft, and Nvidia, with the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore's Temasek as financial anchor investors [3].
Strategic Rationale #
The deal reflects the growing conviction among sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors that data center infrastructure is a core asset class underpinning the AI economy. MGX, established in 2024 with Abu Dhabi's G42 as a founding partner, is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak serving as vice chairman [5]. Mubadala had previously invested in Aligned in August 2023
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[5]BlackRock CEO Larry Fink framed the acquisition as part of a broader infrastructure thesis. "AIP is positioned to meet the growing demand for infrastructure required as AI continues to reshape the global economy," he said at the time the deal was announced [3]. The involvement of Microsoft and Nvidia as AIP founding members — though neither is a direct equity buyer in the Aligned transaction — signals strategic alignment between chip and cloud giants and the capital providers building out physical capacity.
Aligned's Portfolio #
Aligned has grown from its 2013 founding into one of the largest data center developers globally. Its 51 campuses span six major U.S. markets — Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City — plus three Latin American metros: São Paulo, Querétaro, and Santiago [1].
The company holds more than 50 patents covering air, liquid, and hybrid cooling systems designed for high-density AI workloads. Aligned's patented cooling technologies are designed to reduce water usage and improve energy efficiency, a differentiator as power density per rack climbs into the 50–100+ kW range for GPU-heavy deployments [3].
Between the October 2025 announcement and the July 2026 close, Aligned's reported portfolio grew from "50+ campuses" and "5+ GW" to 51 campuses and 6.4GW of operational and planned capacity, reflecting continued development activity during the regulatory review period [1] [3].
Record-Setting Context #
The $40 billion valuation shatters the previous record for a data center acquisition. Blackstone and its partners paid $16.6 billion for AirTrunk in 2024, a deal that itself was considered historic at the time [4]. Before that, Brookfield's $10.1 billion take-private of Cyxtera in 2021 and QTS Realty Trust's $10 billion sale to Blackstone in 2022 had set the high-water marks.
The scale of the Aligned deal underscores how rapidly enterprise values have inflated across the data center sector as hyperscalers and AI companies race to lock down capacity. Aligned's 6.4GW pipeline, if fully built out, would rival the footprints of the largest publicly traded data center REITs.
What Comes Next #
The $5 billion in growth capital gives Aligned immediate runway to accelerate construction across its existing campuses and potentially enter new markets. With AIP targeting up to $100 billion in total deployment capacity, the Aligned platform is positioned as the partnership's flagship vehicle for scaling AI-ready infrastructure [1] [2].
MGX CEO Ahmed Al Idrissi has described compute infrastructure at scale as "foundational" to the next phase of economic progress [3]. For Aligned, the combination of Gulf sovereign capital, BlackRock's infrastructure franchise, and strategic alignment with Microsoft and Nvidia creates a capital structure that few private data center operators can match.
Companies mentioned #
Further sources #
[[1] AIP, MGX and BlackRock's GIP Close Acquisition of Aligned Data Centers — Yahoo … ↗](https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/aip-mgx-blackrocks-gip-close-100000168.html)
[[2] MGX group pumps $5bn into US data centre developer Aligned — AGBI, July 2026 ↗](https://www.agbi.com/ai/2026/07/mgx-group-pumps-5bn-growth-capital-into-data-centre-developer-aligned/)
[3] AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), MGX, and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure… ↗
[4] Aligned Data Centers sold to BlackRock and MGX in record-breaking $40bn deal — … ↗
[5] MGX group pumps $5bn growth capital into data centre developer Aligned — AGBI, … ↗ The stories that matter, in one email. Free — unsubscribe anytime.