The Wall Street Journal reports that data center developers across the U.S. are working with bankers this summer to sell majority equity stakes worth tens of billions of dollars, as owners seek exits and investor appetite for AI infrastructure assets reaches new heights.

The scale of investment required to compete in today’s market is staggering. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently estimated that building a gigawatt of new computing power using his company’s architecture could soon cost $80 billion to $100 billion. Shortages of electricians, plumbers, gas turbines, and memory chips have driven construction costs ever higher, forcing some operators to seek deeper-pocketed backers to fund their next phase of expansion.

Data center M&A hit approximately $50 billion in 2025, more than double the prior year, and the deals keep getting larger. Last year’s proposed acquisition of Aligned Data Centers for roughly $40 billion set a new record for the industry. Guaranteed access to electrical power is cited as a major factor in deal valuations, and some buyers may structure transactions with milestone-based payments tied to project completion, reflecting concern about construction delays and rising costs.

Growing community opposition to data center development is also emerging as a meaningful risk that buyers are scrutinizing carefully in due diligence, the Journal notes.

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.