Spanish construction firm ACS is reportedly looking to sell a stake in its nascent data center development unit.

El Economista reports ACS is in advanced negotiations to sell a 50 percent stake in its data center and energy platform to BlackRock-owned asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

The deal could secure ACS more than €1 billion ($1.16bn) from the stake sale. Talks between the two firms began before the summer and have accelerated this month, according to sources familiar with the matter.

ACS is best known in the US as the owner of Turner Construction. The company owns or has stakes in Hochtief, CIMIC, Leighton Asia, Ventia, and numerous others. Data center clients include Meta and Vantage.

Traditionally known as a construction firm serving clients’ own builds, ACS has recently pivoted to developing its own data centers that can be leased or sold to customers.

Recent reports suggest the company has a potential development pipeline totaling 5GW globally.

The company has potential developments in the works in Aragon, Spain, and Fort Worth, Texas. In 2023, the company’s Iridium unit acquired a 6.7-hectare parcel of land in the Alcalá de Henares area of Madrid for the construction of a new 50MW data center.

The company’s Q3 2024 results presentation highlights an investment strategy for greenfield data centers. It noted 1.1GW of capacity (278MW in Spain, 220MW in Australia, 300MW in the US, and 300MW in Chile) totaling $3.4 billion in equity. ACS said at the time it has a further 4GW in “additional opportunities.”

In Europe, ACS-owned Hochtief PPP Solutions is developing a fleet of liquid-cooled wooden Edge data centers. The firm recently launched its first site and has several more in development around Germany, and could expand into Austria and the UK.

Founded in 2006, GIP manages more than $100 billion in client assets across infrastructure equity and debt, with a focus on energy, transport, water and waste, and digital sectors. BlackRock acquired GIP last year.

The company’s digital investments include data center firm CyrusOne and Vodafone tower company Vantage Towers (both in partnership with KKR). The firm has also previously provided loans to data center firm Vantage (unaffiliated with the tower company).

BlackRock also owns European data center operator Mainova Webhouse. The investor also has a $30bn “AI Infrastructure Partnership” (AIP), which was founded in September last year with participation from Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX. In June 2025, the Sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority, joined the AIP. The firm recently invested in a new UK data center venture.