Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager, is looking to establish a publicly traded company to buy data centers as it bids to become the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure investor.
Reports in Bloomberg suggest that New York-based Blackstone will create an acquisition company to acquire more of the digital hubs, providing "mom-and-pop" investors a route into AI-related investment.
Individuals familiar with the plans told the publication that it is approaching sovereign wealth funds and other institutions in the first instance and aims to raise tens of billions of dollars from a wider pool of investors.
It is also understood that the company will target existing, leased data centers rather than development plans or speculative land projects.
Blackstone has a total of $77 billion (£57.43 billion) of infrastructure assets under management, with its portfolio including QTS, one of the largest data center operators in the world.
Blackstone makes other significant data center investments outside QTS. Digital infrastructure, an asset class including data centers and the electric power they need to operate, has “been among the largest drivers of appreciation” in Blackstone’s funds, CEO Stephen Schwarzman said in January on a call with Wall Street analysts.
In July Northumberland County Council in the North East of England approved the asset manager's plans for a £10 billion data center campus at an abandoned battery storage development site.
The global asset manager completed its acquisition of the former BritishVolt site in Cambois in 2024, revealing plans for a 10-building scheme in September the same year.
Blackstone declined to comment.