Mega asset manager BlackRock has launched a £500 million investment programme to deliver data centres up and down the UK.
The venture has started with the acquisition of a data centre in the west of London.
The plan is to acquire, expand and refurbish enterprise data centres in UK markets where there’s a lack of available power.
Data centres have become more important amidst the growth of AI, as well as cloud services, online gaming, and business operations.
Thomas Mueller-Borja, global co-head of real ewstate at BlackRock, said: “Investing in the critical real estate that underpins our economies is essential for accelerating the digital transition.
“With capital markets largely focused on the hyperscaler end of the market, enterprise data centres play a crucial role in boosting overall compute capacity and serving UK plc with more sophisticated digital capabilities.
“With the launch of our investment programme, we are enabling our clients to access new opportunities across the data centre value chain and unlocking capital for what we believe will be a transformational platform in the data centre market together with our experienced partners at DGP.”
The data centres will be delivered with data centre operating platform Gravity Edge, which is a joint venture with Digital Gravity Partners (DGP).
BlackRock pledged to leverage its global scale, real estate capabilities and access to capital, while DGP will bring its deep domain expertise and operating knowledge.
Thor Johnsen, managing partner at DGP, said: “We plan to further modernise the facility, enhancing energy efficiency, enabling higher rack density, and unlocking additional sellable capacity.
“Our shared vision is to establish Gravity Edge as the default choice for customers requiring high-performance, mission-critical infrastructure, with operations designed for modern enterprise use cases in proximity to major urban hubs.”
BlackRock’s real estate business manages approximately $25 billion in assets under management globally.