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Sources say GIP is in negotiations to purchase Aligned Data Centers

Two people with knowledge of the situation told us on Friday that Global Infrastructure Partners, a BlackRock-owned company, is in negotiations to buy Macquarie's Aligned Data Centers.

One source said that the acquisition could be worth around $40 billion.

The deal reflects the growing investor interest in data centres that serve the booming artificial intelligence market and help to power its adoption around the world.

Sources said that the talks, in which Abu Dhabi-based AI Investment firm MGX is involved, have reached an advanced stage. Bloomberg News reported this development Thursday.

People familiar with the matter have said that MGX, a joint venture between sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, and G42, could invest in Aligned. Mubadala owns a small stake in the operator of data centers.

Aligned, MGX, and Mubadala didn't immediately respond to requests for comments. Macquarie BlackRock GIP and GIP have declined to comment.

Aligned of Texas, which is a specialist in AI infrastructure, raised over $12 billion in the first month of 2019. According to its website, the company operates more than 80 data centers with a total capacity of over 5 gigawatts.

Aligned's customers include hyperscale cloud providers, such as Lambda, and artificial intelligence companies.

The Aligned acquisition would be one of the biggest ever private data center deals.

OpenAI, SoftBank Oracle, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX have announced plans to invest in Stargate - a $500 billion dollar supercomputer project - to meet the growing computing demands.

Investors poured record amounts into digital infrastructure in 2018, betting on the fact that data centers will become critical real estate assets as power consumption increases. McKinsey estimated that investments in AI infrastructure could reach $6.7 billion by 2030.

Sources told us on Wednesday that GIP was also in the final stages of talks to purchase utility company AES, in a deal valued at over $40 billion. Reporting by Rhea Rosa Abraham, Gnaneshwarrajan and Akash Shriram in Bengaluru. Editing by Sonia Cheema, Shinjini Ganuli and Sonia Cheema.

(source: Reuters)