Sept 24 (Reuters) - A consortium backed by BlackRock and IFM Investors is in exclusive talks to buy Stack Infrastructure's Asia Pacific data center portfolio for up to $25 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Global investors have been pouring money into Asia's booming data center sector, driven by rising demand for cloud computing, AI and digital services.
The investor group, which includes the BlackRock-backed Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) and IFM, is preparing to conduct due diligence on the assets and hopes to reach an agreement soon with Stack's owner, Blue Owl Capital, the report said.
Bloomberg reported in May that Stack was considering its options, including a sale of its Asia operations in a deal valued at more than $30 billion, and in June that IFM and AIP were among potential bidders.
Denver-based Stack operates data centers across key Asia-Pacific markets including Tokyo, Osaka, Sydney and Melbourne, according to its website.
Deliberations are ongoing, and talks could be prolonged or fail to result in a deal, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. BlackRock, IFM Investors, Stack Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AIP, launched in late 2024 with plans to initiallyinvest more than $30 billion in AI-related projects, is among the world's largest investment vehicles focused ondatacenters and energy facilities needed to power AI applications. Nvidia, xAI, Microsoft, and investment firm MGX are also investors in the partnership.
(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi Aich)
