Partners Group is set to invest over $1bn, complemented by debt financing, in AVK, which provides power solutions for data centres and AI infrastructure in Europe.
The agreement, made on behalf of Partners Group’s clients, will see the company acquire a majority stake in AVK and drive its future growth.
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A minority stake will be retained by the AVK management team.
AVK, active in major European data centre markets such as Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, also offers hybrid solutions powered by biogas, biofuel, and hydrogen.
Till date, the company has delivered more than 20,000 projects with approximately 3.5GW of power installed.
The demand for data centres in Europe has risen due to increased cloud adoption and AI-driven computing needs. This has been encouraged by policies supporting data sovereignty.
However, the region faces grid congestion challenges, with connections in key markets taking years, hindering expansion. AVK’s solutions aim to address these challenges by offering critical on-site power generation.
With Partners Group, AVK plans to evolve into a platform offering long-term Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) solutions, mainly through microgrids.
This strategy includes building and owning power assets and establishing long-term agreements with data centre operators. AVK currently has a pipeline of more than 2 GW of potential power projects across Europe.
AVK CEO Ben Pritchard said: “Speed-to-power is now a defining opportunity for European data centre operators. Our new partnership with Partners Group will allow us to meet our customers exactly where the market demands.
“From the moment we launched our first microgrid, we recognised the challenge and the opportunity facing developers and operators globally.”
Partners Group has a history of investment in decentralised energy and data centres, including ventures with Gren and Eteck, and the pan-Nordic platform atNorth.
The firm’s investment in AVK forms part of its fourth direct infrastructure programme, which recently closed at over $15bn.
Legal and financial advice for the transaction was provided by several firms, including A&O Shearman and PwC.
