Swiss private equity firm Partners Group has agreed to acquire a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, a UK-based power infrastructure firm for the data center market.

Partners said that it intends to invest more than $1 billion of equity, backed by debt financing, to accelerate AVK’s expansion. The influx of capital seeks to expand AVK’s microgrid offering for the data center market.

AVK CEO Ben Pritchard will continue in his position following the deal, with much of the executive team still in place.

“Speed-to-power is now a defining opportunity for European data center operators. Our new partnership with Partners Group will allow us to meet our customers exactly where the market demands,” said Pritchard.

“From the moment we launched our first microgrid, we recognized the challenge and the opportunity facing developers and operators globally. By adding capital to our power solutions portfolio, we can turn speed-to-power from an ambition into action.”

AVK touts a 2GW pipeline, and recently launched its first microgrid at a PureDC data center in Dublin, Ireland. The 110MW on-site microgrid, powered via natural gas engines, was billed at the time as Europe’s first large-scale microgrid.

The system comprises three interconnected energy centers, with each building generating up to 30MW of power. Energy Centre 1 (EC1) and EC2 will be fully operational by the end of 2026, followed by EC3 at a later stage.

Following this, in April, the company launched a modular power system for the hyperscale and AI data center sector. Dubbed the AVK PowerPod, the unit comprises an engine for power delivery, switchgear, UPS, controls, and enclosures. According to the company, it can connect to the grid and operate completely off-grid, providing flexibility for data center customers looking to power their operations.

AVK is a major supplier of generator units for the data center market. It has long-standing supplier relationships with Rolls-Royce Power Systems and Wärtsilä.

Partners Group has made several major acquisitions in the data center industry over recent years. Last May, the firm inked a deal to acquire Singapore-based data center developer Digital Halo.

Before this, it acquired Australian data center firm GreenSquareDC, with plans to invest up to AU$1.2 billion (US$759m) in the company.

The firm has invested some $4bn in data centers since 2021, and has previously acquired Nordic data center firm atNorth (which it has since sold) and US operator EdgeCore.