BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is preparing to reveal a £500 million investment plan in UK data centres during President Donald Trump’s upcoming state visit. This initiative will focus on one of the fastest growing areas of global infrastructure, digital data storage and processing.
According to a reputed news portal, BlackRock will create a joint venture with Digital Gravity Partners, a digital infrastructure investment manager. The partnership will focus on acquiring and upgrading existing data centres to expand their capacity and improve efficiency.
The announcement will be positioned by the UK government as a sign of strong economic ties between Britain and the United States. It comes at a politically sensitive time, with President Trump’s visit coinciding with the recent dismissal of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.
BlackRock, which manages more than 12.5 trillion dollars in assets, is also expanding its operations in Britain. Next week, it will open a new office in Edinburgh that will employ around 1,300 people.
Bloomberg News revealed that the BlackRock and Digital Gravity partnership will play a key role in the 500 billion dollar Stargate data centre project, with a multibillion pound UK investment expected to be announced next week.
The visit, however, comes amid rising tensions over US tariffs, which are creating uncertainty for key British manufacturing sectors such as steel. There are also ongoing disputes between the UK government and major pharmaceutical companies as the US administration pushes for lower prescription medicine prices.
