Ardian acquires €2.5bn Irish utility Energia in bet on AI boom
French private equity firm joins rush to gain exposure to surging energy use by data centres
French investment firm Ardian has struck a deal to acquire one of Ireland’s largest energy utilities, in a major bet on one of the power providers expected to fuel the booming artificial intelligence sector.
Ardian will acquire Energia Group from its existing owner — infrastructure investment firm I Squared Capital — in a deal that values the Dublin-based firm at more than €2.5bn, according to people familiar with the deal.
Energia was acquired by I Squared in 2016, when the utility was known as Viridian, for about €1bn. The company provides power to more than 900,000 homes and business across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It owns a large portfolio of renewable energy operations, including 16 onshore wind farm sites, and has also entered into a partnership to develop and power a 165 megawatt data centre in Dublin.
Infrastructure funds are clamouring to get exposure to the AI sector’s rising energy demands. In the US, BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is nearing a $38bn deal to buy utility group AES, in what would be one of the largest infrastructure takeovers of all time.
Ardian has been a big investor in infrastructure, including a transaction earlier this year that increased its stake in London’s Heathrow airport, in which it is the largest shareholder, and it has also invested in German utility EWE.
Energia represents Ardian’s first deal in Ireland, the group’s co-head of infrastructure Juan Angoitia said in a statement. He added that Energia “has ambitious plans to grow, driven by secured capital projects and increasing energy demand . . . We have been impressed by Energia’s strong growth and resilience in the context of a volatile energy market.”
Ardian managing director William Briggs said in an interview that the investment firm will “be supporting a multibillion-euros capital expenditure programme to build new renewables and improve the efficiency of flexible generation assets in Ireland.
“Energia is a pioneering example of how to unlock growth by a novel approach of co-development of data centres and renewables,” he added.
For I Squared, the deal offers a big windfall as its largest ever asset sale. The Miami-based specialist infrastructure investor, which manages more than $50bn in assets, is led by Sadek Wahba, a former World Bank economist who became a top executive at Morgan Stanley before founding the firm in 2012.
Under its near decade of ownership, the group has taken a €540mn dividend while investing in the company’s expansion and reducing its debt load. I Squared has invested in other European assets including acquiring the operator of London’s famous red buses in 2023.
Under I Squared’s ownership, Energia’s growth “was organic, predominantly around pushing the renewable agenda,” rather than acquisitions, said I Squared senior partner Mohamed El Gazzar in an interview.
“One of the big growth drivers will also be that data centre coming on that will even further increase the ebitda [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation].”