Ares Management Expands Ada Infrastructure into US with Major Virginia Data Center Acquisitions

Ares Management Expands Ada Infrastructure into US with Major Virginia Data Center Acquisitions

December 19, 2025

In a significant move to capture growth in the world's largest data center market, alternative investment giant Ares Management Corporation has expanded its global data center platform, Ada Infrastructure, into the United States through two strategic acquisitions in Virginia. The transactions underscore the intense competition for capacity in supply-constrained markets driven by relentless hyperscale demand.

This week, funds managed by Ares's Real Assets division closed on two separate deals. The Ares Digital Infrastructure business, through a dedicated fund, acquired a 314-acre land parcel in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, located along the crucial I-95 South data center corridor. This greenfield site is slated for development by Ada Infrastructure, with its first phase planned to deliver two data center buildings offering a combined 200 megawatts of IT load capacity.

Concurrently, an Ares Real Estate fund acquired two stabilized data centers in Leesburg, Loudoun County—the heart of Northern Virginia's data center ecosystem. The facilities, built this year, encompass 745,000 square feet and offer 165MW of capacity. They are fully leased under 15-year triple-net agreements to a single, unnamed investment-grade hyperscale customer, providing immediate, predictable cash flows.

Michael Steele, Head of Ares Digital Infrastructure, stated, “We are excited to further expand our digital infrastructure presence in the US through these recent acquisitions in one of the world’s largest data center markets. Our site acquisition in Spotsylvania County advances the global positioning of Ada Infrastructure through a project in a supply-constrained tier one market that continues to see accelerating demand.” He emphasized the platform's aim to deliver near-term capacity to customers and value to investors.

The deals significantly bolster Ada Infrastructure's global pipeline, which now exceeds 1 gigawatt of planned capacity across markets including London, Tokyo, and São Paulo. For Ares, a firm with over $595 billion in assets under management, the investment reinforces its strategic focus on digital infrastructure and "New Economy" real assets. David Roth, Global Head of Real Estate Strategy and Growth at Ares Real Estate, noted, “Northern Virginia represents an attractive, rapidly growing, and critical data center market, and these assets... provide predictable cash flows, portfolio diversification, and strong upside potential.”

The expansion into Spotsylvania County, a sub-market south of the traditional core, highlights the geographical spread of development as prime land in Loudoun County becomes scarce. It follows a trend of major operators seeking large-scale, developable land in emerging Virginia corridors to meet future hyperscale requirements.

Source: datacenterdynamics