BlackRock, IFM Consortium in Exclusive Talks for Stack's APAC Data Center Portfolio

A consortium backed by BlackRock Inc. and IFM Investors has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire the Asia-Pacific data center portfolio of Stack Infrastructure, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. The potential deal highlights the intense investor demand for digital infrastructure assets fueled by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

The Potential Acquisition

The consortium, which includes BlackRock's Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), is now preparing to conduct due diligence on the assets. The portfolio could be valued at between $20 billion and $25 billion, according to the report.

This valuation is below the more than $30 billion that Stack's owner, Blue Owl Capital, had previously sought for the portfolio. While the group aims to reach an agreement soon, the sources noted that discussions could still be delayed or fall apart, and other bidders may remain interested.

Strategic Context and Market Demand

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The move underscores a global rush by institutional investors to gain exposure to the infrastructure powering AI and cloud computing. Data centers have become a critical asset class, attracting significant capital from firms looking to capitalize on the exponential growth in data consumption.

Stack Infrastructure’s Asia-Pacific portfolio is a significant prize, with data centers in key regional hubs, including:

• Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
• Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
• Johor Bahru, Malaysia

This is not the first major move for BlackRock's AIP fund, which counts Nvidia, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and Temasek among its investors. The fund's inaugural deal was the $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers, announced in October.