ACS and BlackRock’s Joint Venture to Develop 2 Billion Euro Data Centre Portfolio
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s ACS and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners have announced a groundbreaking joint venture to develop an initial 2 billion euro ($2.33 billion), 1.7 gigawatt portfolio of data centres, according to a statement released by the Spanish company on Friday.
Both companies will hold a 50% stake in the joint venture, ACS confirmed. The transaction is expected to provide ACS with a 100 million euro capital gain, further solidifying its position in the data centre market.
The new development platform will encompass the existing portfolio of data centre assets that ACS is currently developing across Europe, the U.S., and Australia. This move comes after ACS’s strategic focus on expanding infrastructure to meet the growing demand for AI and cloud computing services.
ACS also revealed that they are evaluating a pipeline of potential projects exceeding 11 GW across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, all of which will be integrated into the joint venture.
Under the terms of the agreement, the partners will invest approximately 1 billion euros initially, with an additional variable payment of up to 1 billion euros contingent on meeting specific milestones related to the projects’ commercialization. There is also a possibility of an extra contingent payment of up to 200 million euros from projects currently under consideration by ACS.
ACS stated that they have already constructed more than 5.5 GW of data centre capacity, showcasing their expertise and experience in the sector.
The announcement follows a report by newspaper Expansion, which stated that ACS and BlackRock’s partnership deal could potentially be valued at 23 billion euros. This sum includes 5 billion euros in equity capital to be progressively contributed and 18 billion euros in debt financing.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Corina Pons; Editing by Jesús Aguado and Jan Harvey)
