Yahoo Finance·2025-10-15 12:29Core Insights - An investor group led by BlackRock and Nvidia is acquiring Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management for $40 billion, highlighting the growing demand for AI infrastructure [1][2] - The acquisition is part of a broader trend of mega-deals aimed at securing computing capacity, with OpenAI recently announcing agreements for approximately 26 gigawatts of computing capacity [2][6] - The investment consortium, known as the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), aims to deploy an initial $30 billion in equity capital, potentially reaching $100 billion including debt [2][3] Group 1: Acquisition Details - This marks AIP's first investment, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2026 [3] - Aligned Data Centers specializes in designing, building, and operating data centers for hyperscalers and enterprises, with a portfolio of 50 campuses and over 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity [4][5] - The company will continue to be headquartered in Dallas, Texas, under the leadership of CEO Andrew Schaap [4] Group 2: Market Context - Aligned Data Centers raised $12 billion earlier this year, one of the largest private capital injections into a data center company, indicating the increasing scale of financing needed to meet demand [5] - The capital-intensive nature of expanding AI infrastructure has attracted significant investments from major tech companies, startups, private equity, and infrastructure funds [5] - Morgan Stanley estimates that major cloud companies are projected to spend $400 billion on AI infrastructure in 2023 [6]