UPDATE 1-GIP nears deal to buy Aligned Data Centers for about $40 billion, Bloomberg News reports

(Adds details, background throughout) Oct 2 (Reuters) – BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is in advanced talks to acquire Macquarie-backed Aligned Data Centers in a deal valuing the technology infrastructure company at $40 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The companies have yet to finalize a deal, but an agreement could be announced within days, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. Mubadala, an investor in Aligned and a backer of MGX, an Abu Dhabi AI investment firm, is also involved in the talks and would invest independently as part of the transaction, the report said. Blackrock declined to comment on the report. GIP, Aligned, Macquarie, and Mubadala did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The enormous uptake of AI, both in business and personal use, has prompted a host of companies to invest in AI data centers. McKinsey estimates those investments to reach $6.7 trillion by 2030 to meet computing power demand. Texas-based Aligned, which specializes in AI-related infrastructure, raised more than $12 billion in January. (Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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