(Reuters) -An investor group, which includes BlackRock, Nvidia, xAI and Microsoft, will buy Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management and co-investors in a deal worth $40 billion.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, the companies said on Wednesday. Aligned will remain based in Dallas, Texas, and will be led by CEO Andrew Schaap.

The group aims to deploy $30 billion of equity capital initially, with the potential of reaching $100 billion, including debt.

Here are key facts about Aligned Data Centers:

SIZE AND SCALE

** Founded in 2013 and based in Texas, the company builds and operates data centers for hyperscalers and cloud computing companies. 

** The company has 50 data center campuses and touts roughly 5-gigawatts of contracted and available capacity.

** Aligned completed a capital raise of more than $12 billion in January this year, which includes $5 billion of new primary equity, comprising funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, and more than $7 billion of new debt commitments.

** It acquired Latin American data center provider ODATA in 2023, in a major push to boost its portfolio, with ODATA now operating in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and the U.S.

** Aligned is also building a new data center in Texas with Nvidia-backed cloud company Lambda.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

** Andrew Schaap is the CEO of Aligned Data Centers since 2017. Prior to joining Aligned, he held many leadership roles in his 11 years with data center operator Digital Realty Trust.

** Schaap is the founder and board member of DC Delta, an advisory council of global data center end users and innovators, among others, who are focused on data center efficiency and sustainability.

** Meghan Baivier is the finance chief of Aligned Data Centers since 2024.

** Prior to joining Aligned, Baivier was chief operating officer of Easterly Government Properties, a fully integrated real estate investment trust focused properties leased to the U.S. government.

CUSTOMERS

** The company targets hyperscalers, cloud providers, neocloud operators and large enterprise customers.

** Cloud computing platform Nutanix and IT services provider Datto are among the customers of Aligned Data Centers.

COMPETITORS

** Companies such as Equinix, Digital Realty Trust, CyrusOne, Microsoft and Vantage Data Centers are rivals of Aligned.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru)