TPG Is in Talks to Buy UK Data Centre Group Ark From Elliott at About $5 Billion, FT Reports
TPG is in talks to buy Ark Data Centres from Elliott Investment Management at a valuation of about $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on October 28, according to Reuters and Bloomberg Law. The talks are ongoing and a deal is not certain. Ark runs Crown Hosting Data Centres, a joint venture with the UK Cabinet Office that gives it access to all UK public-sector data centre requirements. Neither TPG nor Ark had commented when Reuters published.
The asset a buyer would be paying for is partly a relationship with the British state. Ark Data Centres runs Crown Hosting Data Centres, a joint venture with the UK government's Cabinet Office that gives it access to all UK public data centre requirements, Reuters reports. Global alternative asset manager TPG is now in talks to buy Ark from Elliott Investment Management at a valuation of about $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
What is reported#
The discussions are ongoing, but a deal is not guaranteed, according to the FT as relayed by Reuters. Elliott, which acquired Ark in 2012, was exploring options for the business in a possible sale that could fetch more than $4 billion, Reuters reported last year. Bloomberg Law describes Elliott as holding a controlling stake in Ark, which it calls one of the largest data centre operators in the UK, offering cloud and connectivity services; the company was founded in 2005.
The report lands on the day Britain's Budget set out a Data Centre Covenant that offers faster grid connections to strategic data centres that meet tests on energy bills, local investment and jobs. There is no indication in the reports that the two are connected.
Limits#
- This rests on a single FT report citing unnamed people. Reuters said it could not verify the report, and TPG and Ark did not immediately respond to its requests for comment.
- We could not read the FT article itself; details come from Reuters' and Bloomberg Law's summaries of it.
- Neither report gives a timetable, financing structure or the size of Elliott's stake.
Sources#
- Reuters via Euronext: TPG pursues $5 billion acquisition of British data centre group Ark, FT reports (October 28, 2026)
- Bloomberg Law: TPG Weighs Buying Data Center Firm Ark for $5 Billion, FT Says (October 28, 2026)
- Times of AI: UK Budget Puts About £700 Million Into AI, Most of It for Security, and Offers Data Centres Faster Grid Access in Return for Local Commitments (October 28, 2026)