Blackstone Group sells ownership of three data centers in Virginia state.

Blackstone Group is currently selling its ownership stakes in three data centers in the Northern Virginia region, and local residents are increasingly resisting such large-scale expansion projects. According to a joint statement released by the two companies on Monday, the Digital Real Estate Investment Trust Group will pay Blackstone's fund $1.2 billion in cash and issue $2.3 billion worth of its own stock. In exchange, the data center operator will acquire Blackstone's ownership stakes in two assets: 80% of the 96-megawatt data center in Manassas, Virginia, and 50% of the 96-megawatt data center in nearby Sterling. The assets involved in this week's transaction stem from a joint venture project established by Blackstone and the Digital Real Estate Investment Trust in 2023. At the time, this move was made to seize the opportunity in the artificial intelligence computing power competition sweeping Wall Street. A significant amount of related investment was focused on the Virginia digital gateway project. This is a grand-scale plan, with up to 37 data center buildings planned within a 2,100-acre industrial corridor.