Key Takeaways
- • EQT, Europe's largest private markets firm with $400 billion in assets, is in talks with UAE and Saudi sovereign investors on joint AI and infrastructure investments, according to global chair Jean Eric Salata speaking to The National.
- • The focus is data infrastructure and data centres, where EQT says it has one of the largest footprints globally, with portfolio firm EdgeConneX owning more than 106 data centres across 25 countries.
- • EQT opened an Abu Dhabi ADGM office in September and already co-invests with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala, including in the £9.5 billion Intertek bid.
- • Gulf states have announced AI investment plans worth $120 billion since last year, exceeding 5 per cent of their combined GDP per IMF estimates, creating demand for long-term capital.
Summary
EQT, Europe's largest private markets investment firm with more than $400 billion in assets, is in talks with sovereign investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to explore joint artificial intelligence and infrastructure investment opportunities, according to global chair Jean Eric Salata, who spoke to The National. Salata said the two markets are the firm's priority areas for AI co-investment, with infrastructure, particularly data infrastructure and data centres, the sector EQT is most focused on. He said the firm plans to expand its Gulf AI infrastructure footprint through portfolio company EdgeConneX, which owns more than 106 data centres across 25 countries.
The push comes as the Gulf states position AI as a core part of economic diversification. The UAE is developing a planned five-gigawatt UAE-US AI campus in Abu Dhabi, including Stargate UAE, a 1GW computing cluster anchored by a $20 billion data centre investment. Saudi Arabia has launched Project Transcendence, a $100 billion scheme, and its $1 trillion Public Investment Fund has set up Humain to build national cloud infrastructure. Qatar's Qatar Investment Authority has launched Qai, a $20 billion AI infrastructure partnership. According to International Monetary Fund estimates cited by The National, the three Gulf states have announced AI investment plans worth $120 billion since last year. Blackstone has struck a $3 billion deal with Humain, and Microsoft has committed over $10 billion to regional data centres through 2030.
EQT opened its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi's ADGM in September. Salata said the firm already works closely with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which co-underwrites its largest European take-private deals, and with Mubadala, which joined EQT's £9.5 billion acquisition bid for Intertek Group in June. Mubadala also took a $600 million stake in Nord Anglia Education in 2025. Salata said the firm has active relationships with many other sovereign wealth funds and expects regional sovereign investment to flow into the 40 EQT portfolio companies already present in the Gulf. He said the number of portfolio companies with Gulf exposure could grow two- to three-fold over five to 10 years.
Salata said the sector is capital constrained, with the key limits on AI build-out being physical: chips, energy and data centres. He argued that demand for compute supports investment in power generation and data infrastructure, and that long-term capital with a 15-year horizon is well placed to participate. EQT's target sectors in the region include infrastructure, education, health care, technology and energy, which Salata described as aligned with long-term regional trends and supported by government policy.
The push comes as the Gulf states position AI as a core part of economic diversification. The UAE is developing a planned five-gigawatt UAE-US AI campus in Abu Dhabi, including Stargate UAE, a 1GW computing cluster anchored by a $20 billion data centre investment. Saudi Arabia has launched Project Transcendence, a $100 billion scheme, and its $1 trillion Public Investment Fund has set up Humain to build national cloud infrastructure. Qatar's Qatar Investment Authority has launched Qai, a $20 billion AI infrastructure partnership. According to International Monetary Fund estimates cited by The National, the three Gulf states have announced AI investment plans worth $120 billion since last year. Blackstone has struck a $3 billion deal with Humain, and Microsoft has committed over $10 billion to regional data centres through 2030.
EQT opened its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi's ADGM in September. Salata said the firm already works closely with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which co-underwrites its largest European take-private deals, and with Mubadala, which joined EQT's £9.5 billion acquisition bid for Intertek Group in June. Mubadala also took a $600 million stake in Nord Anglia Education in 2025. Salata said the firm has active relationships with many other sovereign wealth funds and expects regional sovereign investment to flow into the 40 EQT portfolio companies already present in the Gulf. He said the number of portfolio companies with Gulf exposure could grow two- to three-fold over five to 10 years.
Salata said the sector is capital constrained, with the key limits on AI build-out being physical: chips, energy and data centres. He argued that demand for compute supports investment in power generation and data infrastructure, and that long-term capital with a 15-year horizon is well placed to participate. EQT's target sectors in the region include infrastructure, education, health care, technology and energy, which Salata described as aligned with long-term regional trends and supported by government policy.
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