Funds affiliated with Blackstone have taken a 49 percent stake in Rowan Digital Infrastructure, an American sustainable hyperscale data center developer in the United States. The investment was disclosed alongside Rowan’s existing backer Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, which continues to hold a role in the company’s ownership and strategy.
According to a press release, the deal comes as demand for large-scale data center capacity continues to rise, driven by cloud computing expansion and increasing requirements for high-density computing infrastructure. Rowan develops sites that depend heavily on access to power and rapid construction timelines, positioning itself in a segment of the market where developers are competing for grid capacity and suitable land.
Charley Daitch, CEO, Rowan, said, “Blackstone’s investment is a strong vote of confidence in our differentiated approach and our ability to execute complex projects at scale particularly where power availability, accelerated timelines, and community alignment are critical to success.”
David Scaysbrook, Managing Partner, Quinbrook and Chairman, Rowan said, “We are delighted that Blackstone is investing in Rowan. As one of the world’s leading investors in digital infrastructure and energy, they are ideally placed to help us continue Rowan’s remarkable growth story. This power focus leverages Quinbrook’s specialist expertise in power project development tailored to the needs of energy intensive customers.”
Blackstone’s entry adds additional institutional capital to Rowan’s development pipeline at a time when hyperscale operators are expanding capacity requirements across existing and new US markets. The investment is intended to support ongoing buildout of data center capacity and help finance expansion across Rowan’s portfolio.
We have been tracking how Blackstone has been making significant investments in the digital infrastructure space.
Blackstone established a Joint Venture (JV) with Digital Realty in 2023, to develop four hyperscale data center campuses across Frankfurt, Paris, and Northern Virginia. Blackstone will own 80 percent of the venture with an initial US$ 700 million investment, while Digital Realty will retain 20 percent, and manage development and operations.
The projects are expected to total 500 MW of IT capacity across 10 data centers, with an estimated US$ 7 billion build-out cost over several years.
In the APAC region Blackstone acquired AirTrunk, the leading Asia-Pacific data center platform for AU$ 24 billion (US$ 16 billion), this marked Blackstone’s largest transaction in the region to date.
Blackstone Group has also invested US$ 6 billion in India to build data centers in Mumbai. The first is a US$ 3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The second is a US$ 3 billion MoU with the City & Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) to develop data centers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Blackstone is already developing two data centers in Navi Mumbai, the projects reportedly worth US$ 300 million.
Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) and Aligned Data Centers have expanded their senior secured credit facility to support Aligned’s continued growth and portfolio expansion. The upsized facility increases BXCI’s total commitment to over US$ 1 billion, funded entirely by its Infrastructure & Asset Based Credit Group.
The financing will help accelerate development of Aligned’s planned 5+ GW capacity across the Americas and support rising demand for scalable, sustainable data center infrastructure for AI, cloud, and enterprise workloads.
Advisory roles on the transaction included Goldman Sachs, Evercore, and Kirkland & Ellis advising Quinbrook while Blackstone was advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. The transaction marks an additional step in Rowan’s expansion as it seeks to scale both its development pipeline and financing capacity in the hyperscale data center sector.