- US data-center platforms, including Netrality and DataBank, are seeking buyers for majority company stakes, per The Wall Street Journal.
- AI-related demand and power constraints boost the strategic value of operators already holding operational facilities and grid connections.
- Buyers are prioritizing platforms with secured power and customers, as vacancy rates in key markets drop below 1% and development hurdles rise.
Rising AI Demand Pushes Operators to Market Stakes
Several major US data-center operators are shopping majority stakes in their companies as AI-driven usage drives valuations to new highs, The Wall Street Journal reports. Firms including Netrality Data Centers, DataBank, Edged, and EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure have engaged bankers to solicit offers this summer.
These deals target private-equity investors and cover equity in entire operating platforms—offering buyers control over both mature portfolios and future growth pipelines. The stakes reportedly represent tens of billions of dollars in collective value, reflecting both the surging requirements of AI and cloud clients and severe shortages in available high-power data-center capacity.
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The Details
These offerings mark a shift from asset sales to company-level transactions. Buyers target full platforms, not individual properties. The deals include development pipelines, customer bases, and operating businesses.
Sellers have not disclosed stake sizes or buyer names. However, they are marketing majority interests. Buyers could gain strategic control of operations and secured development sites.
These processes differ from recent single-asset deals. One example was Digital Realty’s $7.8B purchase of Blackstone-backed interests in Northern Virginia data centers.
Platform buyers gain immediate scale and operating capacity. They can also enter new markets faster as AI demand accelerates.
Scarcity and Power Access Drive Premiums
AI adoption has strained capacity in established data center markets. Northern Virginia and Dallas-Fort Worth now report vacancy below 1%.
Meanwhile, developers are building only 0.9 GW of new colocation supply nationwide. The US already operates an installed base of 18.5 GW.
Platforms with powered sites and reliable grid connections hold a growing advantage. Access to electricity now shapes competitive positioning.
DataBank recently raised $1.45B to support its Dallas-Fort Worth expansion, reinforcing investor confidence in power-secured growth markets.
S&P Global expects US data center power demand to rise sharply. Consumption could jump from 75.8 GW in 2026 to 134.4 GW by 2030.
The forecast highlights growing grid constraints and longer development timelines. As a result, buyers favor proven operators over speculative projects.
They increasingly seek companies with power access, secured sites, and signed customers.
Why It Matters
This wave of platform transactions marks a strategic shift in capital deployment. Investors now prioritize operating platforms over growth stories.
Earlier secondary deals followed a different model. DataBank raised $2B in equity in October 2024. Existing investors later sold another $600M of shares in January 2025.
EdgeCore followed a similar path. Partners Group led a $1.9B institutional commitment last September.
However, today’s control stake sales move beyond growth capital. Buyers now place higher value on execution and operating resilience.
Berkeley Lab highlights the challenge facing developers. Only 13% of generation capacity entering interconnection queues between 2000 and 2020 became operational by late 2025.
That statistic boosts the value of existing platforms. Investors want real assets and customer contracts, not future development plans.
For CRE professionals, platform control changes the rules of engagement. Investors no longer chase future supply alone.
Instead, they pursue turnkey scale and operating certainty. Sellers can therefore command higher multiples for established businesses.
The gap between powered operators and waiting developers continues to widen. Infrastructure control has become the key currency in competitive bidding.
What’s Next
The marketed sales of Netrality, DataBank, Edged, and EdgeCore stakes could set new valuation records for US data center platforms.
However, sellers continue to keep timelines, buyers, and deal terms private.
Generalist and infrastructure funds continue to increase their exposure to digital infrastructure. More scaled platforms with power access could reach the market.
AI demand keeps climbing while regulatory hurdles increase. As a result, powered sites should remain highly valuable for years ahead.
