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BlackRock$BLK · filed: grew revenue 18.7% in FY2025 to $24.2BNew shipNext year $24.2B–$29.8B sealedCheck ▾Close ▴
What BlackRock filed
Grew revenue 18.7% in FY2025 to $24.2 billion, operating margin 29.1% against a 24.4% median for security brokers, dealers & flotation companies, equity 32.9% of assets, and dividend per share up 3 years running. Every figure links to the filing it came from on BlackRock’s card. New ship: no warning signs.
What the house said in advance
Revenue for the fiscal year after 2025-12-31 between $24.2B and $29.8B, an 80% range sealed on 26 Sept 2026 · receipt #592edd · graded in public by the revenue in BlackRock’s next annual report.
Figures as filed with the SEC. Ranges, scores and boats are statistical descriptions of past filings, not ratings or recommendations. Reporting, not advice.
In plain words
**$40B** close plus **$5B** live capital positions BlackRock-MGX as the hyperscale landlord with the deepest sovereign checkbook and the shortest path to energized capacity.
$40 billion
acquisition of Dallas-based Aligned Data Centers on Tuesday and…
$5 billion
growth capital commitment
26
enterprise-grade facilities across
$100 billion
AI investment program announced in partnership with Microsoft and…
A consortium anchored by BlackRock and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund MGX closed its $40 billion acquisition of Dallas-based Aligned Data Centers on Tuesday and announced an immediate $5 billion growth capital commitment. The deal moved from signing to close without regulatory delay, placing one of North America's largest hyperscale data center portfolios under the joint control of the world's largest asset manager and a Gulf state vehicle building parallel AI infrastructure at home.
Aligned operates 26 enterprise-grade facilities across 10 U.S. markets, purpose-built for compute-intensive workloads. The company's lease-up velocity accelerated through 2024 as hyperscaler demand for GPU clusters exceeded supply by wide margins. BlackRock structured the consortium through its infrastructure flagship; MGX contributed capital and strategic alignment with its domestic $100 billion AI investment program announced in partnership with Microsoft and G42 last April. The $5 billion follow-on commitment is earmarked for immediate expansion — greenfield sites already permitted in Northern Virginia, Phoenix, and Dallas submarkets where power allocations remain available.
The valuation represents roughly 18x trailing EBITDA based on Aligned's reported $2.2 billion run-rate as of third quarter 2024, a 40 percent premium to comparable transactions in the sector over the prior 18 months. That multiple compresses to 12x forward estimates if the operator can deploy growth capital at target returns, but execution depends on two constraints tightening in real time: utility interconnection queues now stretching 36 to 48 months in key markets, and equipment lead times for transformer and switchgear inventory extending past 2026 in some geographies. BlackRock's infrastructure team has co-invested in renewable generation and utility-scale battery projects that could accelerate power delivery to Aligned sites, creating a vertically integrated advantage competitors relying on third-party utility schedules cannot replicate quickly.
MGX's participation signals a broader Gulf strategy to secure physical compute infrastructure outside home markets while recycling petrodollar surpluses into hard assets levered to structural demand. The fund now holds minority stakes in 11 U.S. data center platforms through direct and co-mingled vehicles, with Aligned representing its largest single exposure. The sovereign fund's board includes executives who previously structured Abu Dhabi's positions in renewable energy and semiconductor supply chains, sectors where early infrastructure ownership generated sustained strategic returns. Worth noting: MGX has not published target portfolio allocation percentages for data center infrastructure, but three separate filings in Delaware and Texas since October indicate the fund is moving faster than its disclosed governance cadence would suggest.
Allocators should track three near-term developments: Aligned's first post-close capacity lease announcement, likely within 60 days, which will validate the valuation thesis; MGX's next U.S. infrastructure filing, expected before March based on prior disclosure rhythm; and BlackRock's infrastructure fund marketing documents for vintage 2025, which may reveal whether the firm is raising a dedicated digital infrastructure vehicle or folding data centers into its broader platform strategy. The Dallas headquarters will remain operational under existing management, and the consortium has retained Aligned's CEO and commercial leadership through equity rollovers that vest over four years.
Power procurement contracts Aligned signed in late 2023 lock in electricity at rates 30 to 40 percent below current spot market pricing in Texas and Arizona through 2028, creating a margin buffer that insulates returns from near-term utility rate escalations.
Branded by POPS4 · proof in 60 seconds
For the principal
Track MGX co-investment structures—Gulf sovereigns are selecting U.S. hard assets that double as geopolitical hedges against domestic concentration risk.
For the operator
Watch Aligned's lease-up pace through Q2 2025; 18x EBITDA only works if utilization ramps match hyperscaler spending forecasts currently baked into forward models.
For the house
We hold indirect exposure through BlackRock infra fund; recommend monitoring for spin-out or separate vehicle that would allow direct co-invest at scale.
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