ADIA eyes Carlyle stake in Indian data centers

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is among a handful of investors in formal talks with U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group over the sale of a stake in Indian data centers.

ADIA, the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East, along with Singapore’s GIC and global private equity majors like KKR are in discussions on the sale of Carlyle’s 24% stake in Nxtra Data, the data center business of Indian telecom company Bharti Airtel, Moneycontrol reports.

Carlyle had picked up the stake in the company in 2020 for $235 million.

News of the potential deal comes amid a wave of interest in data centers by Gulf sovereign wealth funds. ADIA has earmarked billions of dollars over the last several years to deploy into this critical infrastructure amid the artificial intelligence boom.

In 2022, ADIA joined hands with Singapore’s SC Capital to deploy as much as $2 billion into data center infrastructure in developed Asian economies.