Under the terms of the strategic partnership, investment giant Blackstone will provide data centre operator Aligned Data Centers with an initial US$600 million senior secured credit facility.
The financing will be used to support the development of Aligned’s SLC-03 data centre, which was announced in June 2022.
SLC-03 is the fourth data centre Aligned will own in the Salt Lake City Metro Area and will be the third data centre located on its hyperscale campus in West Jordan, Utah.
SLC-03 is the newest and largest of the four Salt Lake City data centres and is an 80MW build-to-suit project for an unidentified client.
When it was announced, Aligned said the data centre would add 100MW of capacity to the West Jordan campus.
“The capital demands of this industry make strong financial backing crucial. Strategic financing partnerships focused on ingenuity and collaboration are a key advantage. We are excited to embark on this initial transaction and build on future opportunities with Blackstone," said Anubhav Raj, chief financial officer at Aligned.
Leaders in Blackstone's BXCI business said the partnership demonstrated its ability to offer flexible financing while praising Aligned for its commitment to sustainability.
Blackstone has been investing significantly in data centre businesses as of late.
A $10 billion acquisition of QTS in 2021 was followed by the launch of an Asian platform in 2022 that currently has 600 MW of planned data centre capacity in five tier-1 Indian cities.
At the end of last year, Blackstone announced a $7 billion joint venture with global data centre group Digital Realty,
In February this year, it was rumored to be interested in buying a stake in turnkey data centre construction company Winthrop Technologies.
