By Amy-Jo Crowley and Andres Gonzalez
LONDON (Reuters) -Elliott Investment Management is exploring strategic options for its UK-based Ark Data Centres in a possible sale that could fetch more than 3 billion pounds ($4.00 billion), according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The U.S. hedge fund has held informal talks with advisers about a potential sale of the Wiltshire-based firm, with a process potentially starting early next year, one of the people said.
While no formal decisions have been made, potential infrastructure investors have been approached, a second person said. That person said that Elliott had attempted to sell the company before in 2023 but offers had not reached their expectations at the time.
However, since then global appetite for data centres, which support artificial intelligence and cloud computing services, has soared since OpenAI launched its ChatGPT platform in 2022.
Investment in data centres will reach $6.7 trillion by 2030 to meet the computing power demand driven by AI and cloud services, McKinsey consultants estimate.
Elliott declined to comment, while Ark did not respond to requests for comment. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter was private.
Elliott acquired Ark Data Centres in 2012 through its private equity arm. European real estate investor Revcap, which did not respond to requests for comment, retains a minority stake in the unit. ARK has a joint venture with the UK Government’s Cabinet Office called Crown Hosting Data Centres, which gives Ark access to all UK public data centre requirements.
Earlier this week, OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced plans for five new AI data centres under the Stargate project, a private initiative unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump that aims to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure.
Other data centre deals include Singapore’s SC Capital’s talks to buy British data centre group Global Switch in a transaction that could value at up to $5 billion.
($1 = 0.7492 pounds)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley and Andres Gonzalez in London. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Louise Heavens)
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