Record $40 Billion Deal: NVIDIA, Microsoft, BlackRock Consortium Acquires Aligned Data Centers

The AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) has announced a record $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers, evolving into the largest data centre transaction in history. The deal is being led by Macquarie Asset Management, with the buyer consortium also including Abu Dhabi’s MGX and Global Infrastructure Partners, a BlackRock subsidiary.

The AIP alliance, which comprises NVIDIA, Microsoft, xAI and Cisco, is said to have an investment capacity of up to $100 billion, and Aligned’s valuation prior to the deal was pegged at about $12 billion after its January funding round. Aligned Data Centers, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Texas, specialises in modular, scalable hyperscale data centre solutions, boasting more than 5 gigawatts of capacity across roughly 50 campuses worldwide.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2026, with Andrew Schaap continuing as CEO and Aligned’s headquarters remaining in Texas. As AI workloads surge, the deal underscores a strategic move among tech giants to bolster AI infrastructure and ensure future compute resources.