Private investment company Ardian has concluded a final agreement to take over 100% of the Irish energy company Energia Group from I Squared Capital.
Energia Group has been owned by I Squared, an infrastructure investor since 2016, and is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It claims 17% of the total electricity needs of the island of Ireland and 20% of the total wind energy. The acquisition marks the first investment of Ardian in Ireland.
Energia has some Ardian an “attractive pipeline of new wind, solar and battery energy storage capacity (BESS)”. In addition to more than 300 MW Ontrain Energy on the island of Ireland, the company has one net-coupled facility operational just outside Belfast, another planned Bess near Rolestown in Co Dublin and 657 MW of solar energy capacity in development.
The utility company has worked closely with Microsoft and in 2022 signed a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with the technology giant, those projects such as the 49MW Drumlins-Wind energy plant achieved commercial exploitation.
In his takeover announcement, Ardian noted that the utility company has a “strategic partnership with a global technology partner for the development of a 165 MW data center in Dublin”, probably referring to a deal with Microsoft.
In collaboration with the technology giant, Energia is currently building a new data center in its 744mw gas -fired power plant in Huntstown, Dublin.
William Briggs, general manager of Ardian, emphasized the involvement of Energia in “the convergence between energy companies and digital infrastructure” as an attractive factor in the acquisition.
The acquisition will be completed in the first quarter of 2026 and the Energia management team will continue to lead the company among the new owner. Portal for solar energy has contacted Ardian to confirm the financial value of the transaction, which is estimated in other media reports at around € 2.75 billion (£ 2.39 billion), including debts.
