BlackRock, Nvidia-backed AI consortium to buy Aligned Data Centers in $40 billion deal

(Reuters) -An investment consortium that includes BlackRock, Nvidia, xAI and Microsoft will acquire Aligned Data Centers in a deal worth $40 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. The investment consortium, dubbed the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), has an initial target of deploying $30 billion of equity capital, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt. This is AIP's first investment. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Aligned designs, builds and operates data centers for the hyperscalers, neocloud and enterprises. Its portfolio includes 50 campuses and more than 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity, including assets under development, located across the U.S. and Latin America. Aligned will remain headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and will be led by CEO Andrew Schaap. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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