Aligned Data Centers Acquired for $40B in Largest-Ever Data Centre Deal

The $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers represents not just the largest data centre transaction in history, but a moment that fundamentally redefines the scale and ambition of digital infrastructure investment. The deal more than doubles the previous record of $16.1 billion set by Blackstone and CPP Investments' acquisition of AirTrunk in 2024, and exceeds the GDP of over 100 countries.

The full buyer consortium, revealed by S&P Global, reads like a who's who of the AI and infrastructure investment world: MGX Fund Management (Abu Dhabi's technology investment vehicle), Global Infrastructure Management (BlackRock's GIP), Microsoft Corporation, xAI (Elon Musk's AI company), NVIDIA Corporation, Temasek Holdings (Singapore), Kuwait Investment Authority, and BlackRock Inc. The inclusion of three AI companies (Microsoft, xAI, NVIDIA) alongside sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure investors signals a new model where the consumers of data centre capacity are becoming direct owners of the underlying infrastructure.

Aligned operates over 2 GW of data centre capacity across the United States, distinguished by its proprietary Delta3 cooling technology. This adaptive system dynamically adjusts cooling delivery to each rack based on real-time thermal load, enabling densities from 10 kW to 150 kW within the same facility - a capability that has become essential for AI training workloads where GPU utilisation varies dramatically minute to minute. The technology achieves PUE ratings below 1.2 even in hot-climate markets, representing best-in-class efficiency.

At an implied valuation of approximately $20 million per MW of total capacity (including pipeline), the Aligned deal sets a new benchmark for data centre platform valuations. This compares to $15-16 million per MW for the AirTrunk acquisition and $12-14 million per MW for earlier major transactions. The escalating valuations reflect the market's conviction that AI-driven demand will sustain premium pricing and high occupancy rates for the foreseeable future - and that purpose-built AI cooling technology (like Delta3) commands a significant premium over conventional infrastructure.

The deal closed just six months after Aligned raised $4.5 billion from Macquarie Asset Management, generating an extraordinary return for Macquarie in one of the shortest hold periods for a transaction of this size. For the data centre industry, the Aligned acquisition marks the moment when AI infrastructure became the most valuable physical asset class in the technology sector.