Sterlington Advises Management Team of Aligned Data Centers on Completion of its Landmark US$40 Billion Transaction

Aligned Data Centers closing a $40 billion acquisition represents the largest data center deal on record, signaling robust institutional appetite for mission-critical infrastructure assets. This landmark transaction underscores accelerating consolidation in the hyperscale colocation sector, driven by insatiable demand for AI compute capacity and edge computing proliferation.

The consortium structure—involving multiple capital sources—reflects a shift toward alternative ownership models in data center infrastructure. Traditional REITs like CCI, DLR, and EQIX face renewed competitive pressure from private equity and sovereign wealth funds betting on secular tailwinds in cloud infrastructure and generative AI workloads. Valuation multiples embedded in this $40B enterprise value will likely become a benchmark for future transactions.

Management equity arrangements highlighted in the deal suggest stakeholders retain operational alignment post-close, a common feature in large-cap infrastructure M&A. This structure incentivizes long-term revenue growth and EBITDA margin expansion—critical metrics in asset-heavy, capital-intensive data center operations.

Sector implication: The data center and digital infrastructure sector receives validation as a strategic asset class worthy of mega-cap PE/consortium deployment. Digital infrastructure exposure across technology, real estate, and financial services creates positive tailwinds, though public REIT valuations may face modest compression as private markets demonstrate higher exit multiples.