LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Hitachi Energy has acquired a

minority stake in Shermco, a U.S. electrical services company

recently bought by Blackstone, Hitachi Energy told

Reuters on Wednesday, in a deal aimed at creating the largest

grid services provider in North America.

The deal follows U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to

Japan on Tuesday during which the two countries agreed to a deal

on new-generation nuclear power reactors and rare earths.

Growing global investments in artificial intelligence and

modern data centres have fuelled demand for electricity,

maintenance and repair services.

Switzerland-headquartered Hitachi Energy, a subsidiary of

Japan's Hitachi Ltd ( HTHIF ), declined to give the size of the

stake or value of the Shermco deal.

Blackstone acquired Irving, Texas-based Shermco in August

for about $1.6 billion. Shermco provides comprehensive

electrical system services, as well as critical services for

data centres, utilities and other diversified commercial and

industrial end-markets.

Blackstone said the partnership with Hitachi Energy would

help scale Shermco's operations to meet growing demand for grid

modernisation and electrification.

In September, Hitachi Energy said it planned to invest $1

billion to expand its U.S. power grid infrastructure

manufacturing.