AIP, MGX, and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners have closed their acquisition of Aligned Data Centers at an enterprise value of about $40 billion, completing one of the largest private digital infrastructure transactions on record. The buyer group is also committing another $5 billion of growth capital, underscoring that this is not a yield play. It is a race to finance and secure AI-ready capacity before hyperscalers lock up the best sites.
Aligned brings 51 campuses and more than 6.4 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity across core U.S. data center markets including Northern Virginia, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, plus sites in Latin America. Management stays in place under Chief Executive Andrew Schaap, which points to continuity in customer relationships and development execution rather than a near-term integration overhaul.
The real asset here is not simply square footage. It is development inventory in constrained power markets, paired with cooling technology designed for dense AI workloads and lower water use. That combination matters as utilities, local governments, and large cloud customers push harder on energy efficiency, grid impact, and permitting discipline. In practice, Aligned gives the consortium a platform with land, entitlements, operating expertise, and a pipeline that would take years to replicate organically.
The timing is telling. AIP was formed to channel large pools of capital into AI infrastructure, and Aligned is its first investment. That suggests investors increasingly view data centers less as a real estate adjacency and more as strategic infrastructure tied to national compute capacity. MGX brings Gulf capital with a mandate to back AI supply chains. BlackRock and GIP bring financing depth and operational muscle. Together, they are assembling a position across the physical layer of AI.
Acquire.fyi data shows technology M&A value has reached $233.6 billion year to date, up 76.8% from a year earlier, even as deal count has fallen. That pattern fits this transaction. Fewer deals, larger checks, and a premium on assets that control bottlenecks. Expect rivals to respond by chasing powered land, utility partnerships, and developers with shovel-ready campuses. In this market, capacity is strategy.
Source: Company press release and Acquire.fyi's proprietary data
