Gibson Dunn advised global private equity firm KKR on its investment in a stake in Dubai’s Gulf Data Hub (GDH), one of the largest data centres in the Middle East. Baker McKenzie provided legal counsel to GDH.
KKR and GDH have committed to support over $5 billion of investment to build-out data center capacity, supporting the rise in hyperscale demand, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital-focused national priorities across the GCC.
The transaction marks one of the largest international investments into a UAE-founded and managed business. It is also KKR’s first data centre investment in the Middle East.
The Gibson Dunn cross-border team was co-led by co-chair of private equity in Europe, Federico Fruhbeck, and the partner-in-charge of the Abu Dhabi office, Renad Younes, alongside London partner Jakob Egle.
The team was further assisted by London partners Alice Brogi and Trinh Chubbock (projects & infrastructure), Penny Madden (litigation), Sandy Bhogal (tax), and Riyadh partner Mohamed Al Hasan (regulatory).
KKR’s prior investments in the region include the strategic partnership with ADNOC to create ADNOC Oil Pipelines, which marked the first midstream infrastructure collaboration between a leading global institutional investor and a national oil company in the Middle East. KKR also acquired a portfolio of commercial aircraft from Etihad Airways through aircraft leasing investment platform Altitude Aircraft Leasing, which was established by KKR’s credit and infrastructure funds in 2018 to acquire aircraft serviced by Altavair.
GDH has seven data centers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and additional facilities planned in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.
The global Baker McKenzie team was led by UAE-based corporate M&A partner Abeer Jarrar (Dubai) alongside corporate finance and TMT partners George Marshall and David Hart (London), and Anne Petterd (Sydney).
The data center industry has seen accelerated growth, particularly after the global Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent surge in AI and cloud computing demands.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with details of Baker McKenzie’s involvement on the transaction.
