Blackstone strikes $600m deal with Aligned Data Centers

Private equity giant Blackstone Inc. has struck a more than half-billion-dollar deal with a DFW firm, signaling more could be to come with their business relationship.

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) provided a $600 million loan to Plano-based Aligned Data Centers LLC to support the development of a data center in West Jordan, Utah, the two companies announced March 12. In a statement, Aligned Chief Financial Officer Anubhav Raj called his firm’s deal with Blackstone an “initial transaction” and mentioned future opportunities with the firm.

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This comes as Blackstone — which became the first $1 trillion private equity manager last year — has been betting big on the rise of artificial intelligence, and thus, the real estate that fuels it, after a $10 billion takeover of major data center operator QTS in 2021, as reported by Bloomberg. The valuation of QTS has since grown to about $25 billion as Blackstone committed more money to future projects, according to the outlet.

The deal was through Blackstone’s newly formed credit and insurance arm, Blackstone Credit & Insurance, or BXCI. The deal is backed by insurance accounts managed by BXCI’s Infrastructure and Asset Based Credit Group.

“Aligned is one of the fastest growing data center platforms in the Americas and has a focus on sustainability — we look forward to working with the Aligned team to support their continued growth,” BXCI Principal Alan Carcich said in a statement.

Read more: MSN 

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