A new BlackRock deal could wisely position the asset manager to capitalize on surging demand for power as the generative AI boom shows no signs of slowing down.
The news Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the infrastructure fund manager purchased by BlackRock, is nearing a $38 billion deal to acquire renewable power company AES , according to the Financial Times .
If this were to happen, it would be one of the largest infrastructure takeovers in history. AES, a minent utility in the U.S., owns and operates power plants across the globe.
The firm has vided energy solutions for the world's largest companies, including holdings Amazon , Microsoft , and Meta Platforms , as each of them increases their artificial intelligence spending and looks to build more power-hungry data centers.
The FT reported that takeover talks are in advanced stages, but a BlackRock-AES deal could still fall through. A GIP spokesperson denied CNBC's request for .
s of AES surged more than 15% on Wednesday, making up for lackluster year-to-year trading.
stock BlackRock fell 2% amid broader weakness in financials as the overall stock market weighed the implications of the government shutdown and September's much weaker-than-expected ADP report on hiring at U.S.
companies. Still, BlackRock was just under 3% off Tuesday's record-high close of $1,175. The stock has increased 11% in 2025, which slightly trails the S & P 500' s 13% advance.
Big picture The FT report comes roughly a year after BlackRock its acquisition of GIP for $12.5 billion, which added $100 billion in client assets to BlackRock's existing $50 billion in client infrastructure assets under management.
GIP's major investments include London's Gatwick Airport, major energy pipelines, and more than 40 data centers, BlackRock said in March.
GIP was one of several acquisitions that have given BlackRock more exposure to private .
Since the start of 2024, BlackRock has acquired private credit manager HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion and alternatives data vider Preqin for $3.2 billion.
In fact, CEO Larry Fink previously forecasted that infrastructure would be one of the fastest-growing segments of private . He cited, in part, the data center buildout.
"We're standing at the edge of an opportunity so vast it's almost hard to grasp.
By 2040, the global demand for new infrastructure investment is $68 trillion," Fink said in his 2025 annual letter to investors.
"To put that price tag in perspective, it's roughly the equivalent of building the entire Interstate Highway System and the Transcontinental Railroad, start to finish, every six weeks—for the next 15 years." Bottom line BlackRock would stand to benefit from an AES acquisition because it would expand the asset manager's reach in high-growth infrastructure.
Increased AI infrastructure spending by Big , such as energy-intensive data centers, has been a financial windfall for companies able to help meet surging power demand.
Just look at fellow holding GE Vernova stock, which manufactures heavy-duty gas turbines that support these facilities. The industrial stock has gained 83% year-to-date.
To be sure, we're by no means saying that BlackRock will turn into a data center play.
Instead, the acquisition would diversify BlackRock's revenue s further — so it could rely less on its traditional exchange-traded fund (ETF) , which is massive.
Plus, AES has been underperforming in 2025, as seen prior to Wednesday's session.
That means it "could be a great deal for GIP to snap it up," Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis for the CNBC , said Wednesday.
After all, he added, "one of the strongest long-term themes in the market is power generation." (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long BLK, GEV, META, MSFT, AMZN.
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