Global private investment firm Blackstone has committed to to invest £10bn ($13.4bn) in the United Kingdom to finance the construction of one of Europe’s largest artificial intelligence data centres, according to a report by Forbes.
Teh report cites an announcement by the UK government as confirming that the investment is expected to create 4,000 jobs at a new facility in Blyth, Northumberland, a site previously owned by battery startup Britishvolt, which had intended to produce electric vehicle batteries before its collapse. Construction on the data centre is set to commence next year.
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, currently manages $1.1tn in assets across private equity, real estate, credit, and hedge funds. Its commercial real estate portfolio was valued at $337bn as of last year.
The plan for the AI data centre was first unveiled in April when the local council published Blackstone’s proposal for the site. The firm’s data centre business, QTS, acquired the land for around £20m, with additional phased payments of up to £110m to secure long-term control of the property.
