Blue Owl Capital is working to establish a real‑estate investment trust (REIT) focused on data‑center assets, according to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter. The alternative‑asset manager intends to fund the new vehicle with approximately $6.5 billion drawn from its existing data‑center holdings and to raise additional capital through an initial public offering followed by subsequent share sales. The proceeds from the IPO and later sales are earmarked for the acquisition of further data‑center properties and for expanding the REIT’s portfolio.
The plan remains under discussion, and the precise structure of the REIT and the public offering may evolve. Blue Owl declined to comment on the proposal. The firm recently completed its latest digital‑infrastructure fund in May, securing $7 billion in commitments, which highlights robust investor appetite for infrastructure linked to artificial‑intelligence workloads.
Industry context shows that several data‑center companies backed by large investment firms have entered the IPO market as spending on AI infrastructure rises. Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc. launched a blind‑pool REIT in May, raising $2 billion, allowing investors to purchase shares before the specific assets were identified. Similarly, Csquare Inc., supported by Brookfield, raised $1.2 billion in its July listing. The Blue Owl vehicle is expected to operate in a comparable blind‑pool fashion but will start with an initial set of assets as a foundation, differentiating it from pure blind‑pool structures.
Other asset managers have also explored vehicles modeled after Blackstone’s debut, indicating a broader trend toward REIT structures that target data‑center and AI‑related infrastructure. A Blue Owl representative declined to provide further comment.