The artificial intelligence data centers arms race is showing no signs of slowing down, as exhibited by BlackRock’s latest move in the space.
BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and ACS, a Spanish construction company, formed a 50-50 joint venture for data center development, the Wall Street Journal reported. The venture is being seeded by ACS’ portfolio, valued at $2.33 billion.
That portfolio features assets being developed in Europe, Australia and the United States. In total, the portfolio carries a 1.7-gigawatt capacity. That portfolio contribution will net ACS 1 billion euros and initial earnout payments of up to another 1 billion euros.
Another 200 million euros in payments could come out of projects under review. ACS’ potential pipeline globally hits North America, Europe and Asia Pacific and features a capacity greater than 11 gigawatts total.
The joint venture hopes to generate between 20 million and 25 million euros in revenue from the data center business by the end of the decade.
Before the official announcement, Reuters reported the partnership between the two sides was valued at $26.8 billion.
“Global demand for data centers is set to grow more than 15 times by 2035, driven by the expansion of AI, cloud migration, and the exponential rise in data volumes,” ACS CEO Juan Santamaria said in a statement.
Data centers have emerged as one of the most sought-after investments across North America. AI-driven infrastructure is in demand as top tech companies rely on data centers to power their computing needs.
BlackRock led a consortium that recently agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers, a deal that valued the data center company at roughly $40 billion. Aligned counts 50 campuses and 78 data centers either under management or in its pipeline across the United States and South America.
GIP is reportedly looking to acquire power company AES Corporation, which has an enterprise value of $38 billion, including debt. GIP also co–owns Dallas-based data center firm CyrusOne with KKR, after taking it private four years ago at a $15 billion valuation.
GIP was itself acquired last year by BlackRock for approximately $12.5 billion.
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