Blue Owl Capital, a prominent asset management firm based in New York, has made significant strides in the data centre industry within a short span of time. In 2024, the company launched itself into this sector and has rapidly expanded its reach with strategic partnerships and acquisitions. One of its latest endeavours is a $3.4 billion joint venture aimed at developing a substantial data centre presence in Abilene, Texas.
The venture is a collaboration between Blue Owl Capital, AI infrastructure firm Crusoe Energy Systems, and investor Primary Digital Infrastructure. The trio announced plans on Tuesday to construct a 1 million square foot campus just outside of Abilene. The development will comprise a two-building complex, known as the Lancium Clean Campus, spanning 206 megawatts. Crusoe Energy Systems will oversee the design, construction, and operation of the facility, ensuring it is equipped to manage AI workloads efficiently.
A unique feature of the campus will be its optimisation for direct-to-chip liquid cooling, with the flexibility to incorporate air cooling when needed. This adaptability is crucial for handling extensive computational demands, as the infrastructure is designed to support up to 100,000 graphic processing units within a singular, integrated network.
Abilene, located approximately 150 miles west of Fort Worth, was chosen for its advantageous low-carbon energy landscape. The data centre is set to utilise renewable energy resources both onsite and from nearby developments, including wind power. Additionally, discussions are underway for implementing solar energy solutions directly at the campus.
The entire data centre has already been preleased to a currently undisclosed hyperscale company, with an expected operational commencement set for early next year. The project is anticipated to significantly impact the local economy, injecting an estimated $1 billion over the next 20 years and creating approximately 100 local jobs.
Blue Owl Capital's entry into the data centre market aligns with its broader strategic efforts. Earlier in April, the firm made its debut in commercial real estate by acquiring lender Prima Capital for $170 million, a firm with $10 billion under management and a focus on commercial mortgage-backed securities. In its ongoing expansion, Blue Owl is considering acquiring IPI Partners, a digital infrastructure investor and parent to data centre companies like Stack Infrastructure and RadiusDC, in a deal reported to be valued at $1 billion. If concluded, this acquisition would mark Blue Owl’s third significant data centre transaction since August, in addition to its collaboration with Crusoe.
In a further testament to its aggressive expansion strategy, Blue Owl has joined forces with PowerHouse Data Centers and Chrisia Technology Parks to develop data centres for AI cloud provider CoreWeave, a project potentially costing up to $5 billion.
Overall, Blue Owl Capital, which manages over $192 billion in assets, continues to make substantial investments and alliances, establishing itself as a formidable player in the evolving data centre landscape.
Source: Noah Wire Services