Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, has announced its investment in London-based data center developer Yondr Group. This marks Mubadala’s latest entry into a sector poised to benefit from the surging demand for cloud services and artificial intelligence technology. The $302 billion wealth fund stated that its investment will aid Yondr’s expansion, which currently has a contracted and reserved capacity of 878 megawatts. Mubadala did not provide further details on the transaction.
Headquartered in London, Yondr is a global developer, owner, and operator of hyperscale data centers. The company offers scalable data center infrastructure to major technology firms and boasts a contracted and reserved capacity of 878MW, with 58MW already operational. In a statement, the sovereign investor highlighted that its investment will support Yondr’s aggressive growth strategy, aligned with the escalating demand for hyperscale data centers. Global data center demand is projected to increase at an 11 percent compound annual growth rate by 2032, fueled by advancements in AI, 5G technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Mounir Barakat, senior executive director of digital infrastructure at Mubadala Investment Company, expressed enthusiasm about the investment, noting it as a significant addition to Mubadala’s expanding digital infrastructure portfolio. “We are seeing a robust growth in demand for hyperscale data centers due to the increasing data needs from AI adoption, 5G, and IoT, and Yondr will be pivotal in providing solutions for some of the world’s fastest-growing corporations. We are eager to collaborate closely with Yondr and our investment partners to develop world-class solutions that create long-term value for their customers and stakeholders,” he said.
Chester Reid, chief financial officer at Yondr, emphasized that with Mubadala as a key financial partner, the data center is poised to accelerate growth and continue delivering sustainable data center solutions globally, addressing the rising demand for capacity. The new investment complements Mubadala’s rapidly expanding portfolio of global data center assets under its digital infrastructure portfolio. In 2023, Mubadala invested in Aligned Data Centres, a leading pan-Americas data center company based in the US, and in 2022, it invested in Princeton Digital Group, a leading pan-Asian data center company.
Mubadala, the second-largest state fund in Abu Dhabi, has expanded its global investment role through strategic capital deployment in North America, Asia, and Europe in sectors critical to regional growth. In 2023, Mubadala’s assets under management increased by 9.5 percent to Dh1.11 trillion. The wealth fund also reported proceeds of Dh99 billion last year, a 6.6 percent decrease from the previous year, which included “divestments of certain legacy assets and capital recycling into priority investment areas.”
