en.Wedoany.com Reported - Carlyle Group is selling Copia Power, its data center power infrastructure platform, to Infrastructure VII Fund, managed by Swedish investment group EQT, in a deal that delivers Carlyle a return of more than five times its initial investment. While the transaction terms were not disclosed, sources familiar with the matter value Copia at approximately $2.6 billion.

Founded in 2021, Copia Power has grown from scratch into a company with a total portfolio of power generation and energy storage assets exceeding 2.6 gigawatts (either operational or under construction). The company currently has over 9 gigawatts of grid-connected data center capacity under development, with a broader pipeline including more than 25 gigawatts of solar and storage projects and approximately 7 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation, employing around 100 people. Copia's uniqueness lies in its development model: co-locating power generation, high-voltage transmission, and data center loads at a single interconnection point, building generation and computing campuses together, providing utilities with a faster path to simultaneously connect supply and demand to the grid.

This transaction comes at a time when energy availability has become the biggest constraint on new data center development. Grid interconnection queues in multiple U.S. markets have extended from months to years, with hyperscale cloud providers increasingly willing to pay premiums for sites with secured power. Copia Power CEO Ray Henger stated that partnering with EQT marks the company's next growth phase, as it has been dedicated since inception to integrating power generation, transmission, and large-scale loads to accelerate delivery for customers and utilities. Alex Darden, Partner and Head of EQT Infrastructure Americas, noted that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is reshaping infrastructure demand, making energy an increasingly critical enabler of digital infrastructure, and that Copia has built a differentiated platform at the intersection of these two themes with extremely favorable long-term growth conditions.

EQT already controls EdgeConneX, one of the world's largest data center platforms, fiber operator Zayo, renewable energy developer Cypress Creek Energy, and connectivity business Scale. EQT said it plans to encourage collaboration between Copia and its existing portfolio, pairing power generation directly with digital infrastructure and connectivity to serve hyperscale customers. This strategy reflects an industry trend where private capital increasingly views energy and computing as a single asset class. Since acquiring EdgeConneX in 2020, EQT has more than tripled its capacity, with the platform now covering over 80 sites across more than 50 markets. The acquisition of Copia provides EQT with a direct pathway to power supply. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals. For Carlyle, this exit is part of a recent series of digital infrastructure disposals, with the firm also exploring the sale of its stake in Indian data center operator Nxtra earlier this year.