From the Dallas Morning News, October 15;
Plano’s Aligned Data Centers has about 250 employees in D-FW. The deal is expected to close in 2026.
Dallas-Fort Worth-based Aligned Data Centers will be acquired in a deal valued at $40 billion — one of the largest such transactions of the year and potentially the biggest ever for a data center company.
The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, MGX and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners announced they will acquire 100% equity in the Plano-based firm from private infrastructure funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management and its co-investment partners.
The purchasing investment consortium is backed by BlackRock, Microsoft and Nvidia.
The company will keep its headquarters in the Dallas area. Aligned CEO Andrew Schaap and the existing team will continue to lead the firm.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. This is AIP’s first investment, part of plans to deploy $30 billion of equity capital, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt....
....MUCH MORE
January 10, 2024 -"BlackRock Acquisition Triples Its Business of Building Airports, Roads, and Utilities"
And it was off to the races.
September 18, 2024 - Big Money: "Microsoft, BlackRock form group to raise $100 billion to invest in AI data centers and power"
Possibly also of interest, the infrastructure series:
February 23 = The Infrastructure Theme Is For Real (PWR)
January 31:"KKR raises $6.4 bln for its Asian infrastructure fund" (KKR)
January 8 "East Coast land continues to collapse at a worrying rate It's steadily sinking or subsiding, which is destabilizing levees, roads, and airports."
January 8: "There’s a Shortage of Electrical Wires, Transformers. That’s Good for These Stocks."
January 12: (Big) Batteries: "‘World leading' Tesla battery online to help kick coal out of Hawaii" (TSLA)
January 12: BlackRock Goes Large-by-Large In Infrastructure (BLK)"
January 15: "Investors look set to pour cash into infrastructure following BlackRock acquisition" (BLK)
January 16: "BlackRock Acquisition Triples Its Business of Building Airports, Roads, and Utilities"
I'm telling ya, this is a big deal. Not just for the $12.5 billion purchase price but for the $100+ billion in assets that GIP manages.
January 23: Minerals-for-Infrastructure: "Congo and China Talking $7 Billion In Finance, Tshisekedi Says"
January 23: DEI and ESG Live On, We Just Won't Talk About Them (BLK)
That's one lesson from BlackRock's purchase of Global Infrastructure Partners.
January 29: RAND: "The U.S. Must Close the Long-Distance Power Transmission Gap with China" Or, as the Financial Times put it, a bit more succinctly, February 1, 2024:KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its latest Asian infrastructure fund, capping a month of frenzied investment activity in the sector at a time when broader private equity fundraising has slowed.
—KKR raises record $6.4bn for Asia fund in infrastructure rush
Related, December 4, 2023:
Russell Napier Called It: "The Eyepopping Factory Construction Boom in the US"And possibly most important:
March 18 - In Nvidia's World, If You (and your company) Don't Have Money You Will Not Be Able To Compete (NVDA)
March 20, 2025 - "Money Managers Rush to Invest in The World’s ‘Essential Plumbing’"
October 3, 2025 - BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners Circling $40 Billion Data Center Purchase (BLK)
And many, many more as the best analyst I've ever met once said to me: "A trend is emerging."
