MADRID, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Spain's ACS and

BlackRock's ( BLK ) Global Infrastructure Partners have created

a joint venture to develop an initial 2 billion euro ($2.33

billion), 1.7 gigawatt portfolio of data centres, the Spanish

company said on Friday.

Both companies will have a 50% stake in the joint venture,

ACS said. The transaction will provide ACS a 100 million capital

gain, it added.

The new development platform will include the existing

portfolio of data centre assets ACS is developing across Europe,

the U.S. and Australia after its recent focus on building

infrastructure to meet soaring demand for AI and cloud

computing.

ACS said it is also reviewing a pipeline of potential

projects exceeding 11 GW across North America, Europe, and

Asia-Pacific that will be part of the joint venture.

Under the terms of the deal, the partners will invest

approximately 1 billion euros, plus an initial variable payment

of up to 1 billion euros depending on a series of milestones

linked to the commercialisation of the projects.

An additional contingent payment of up to 200 million euros

could also be obtained from projects currently under analysis,

ACS said.

ACS said it has constructed more than 5.5 GW of data centre

capacity.

The news comes after newspaper Expansion reported on

Thursday that the companies were close to reaching an agreement

on the matter.

Expansion said the partnership deal could be worth 23

billion euros, consisting of 5 billion euros in equity capital

to be contributed progressively, and 18 billion euros in debt.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)