I Squared Capital Partners with Saudi Arabia’s PIF for $1 Billion Digital Infrastructure Investment

I Squared Capital has entered a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), committing up to $1 billion to digital infrastructure projects as part of a broader $2 billion deployment agreement. The non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the U.S.-based infrastructure investment firm and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund targets real estate and infrastructure assets owned by PIF and its portfolio companies. Half of the total allocation is earmarked for digital infrastructure, while the remaining $1 billion will support district cooling systems, both described as critical enablers of the real estate sector.

The partnership underscores the growing importance of digital backbone assets in the Middle East, particularly as Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 economic diversification plan. PIF has been aggressively expanding its footprint in the data center space, primarily through its portfolio company Humain, an AI-focused data center developer established in May 2025 with a goal of delivering 6.6 GW of capacity over the next decade. Humain has already secured deals to purchase 18,000 Nvidia GB300 chips, with plans to acquire several hundred thousand more, and has partnered with AWS for a $5 billion AI Zone, while deploying Groq chips for inference workloads. In November 2025, PIF formed a joint venture with AMD and Cisco to deploy 1 GW of data center capacity, and separately announced a 500 MW data center project in Saudi Arabia with Elon Musk’s xAI.

Saad Alkroud, head of local real estate investments at PIF, said the MoU brings together PIF’s capabilities, scale, and ecosystems alongside I Squared’s operational expertise and proven record in the infrastructure sector. He noted that PIF presents an unprecedented pipeline of real estate and infrastructure projects that continue to attract leading investors and generate commercially attractive returns.

Founded in 2012, I Squared Capital manages approximately $60 billion in assets and has a strong track record in digital infrastructure. The firm holds stakes in European data center operator nLighten, Asia-Pacific data center firm BDx, fiber companies Exa and Lightstorm, and thousands of cell tower sites. In 2021, I Squared acquired Mexican data center firm Kio, and earlier this year it bought Brazilian operator Elea. In May 2026, the firm purchased 10 U.S. data centers from Cogent.

Sadek Wahba, chairman and managing partner of I Squared Capital, said the expanding partnership with PIF reflects the confidence and trust developed between the two institutions. He emphasized that the MoU marks a transition from partnership to action, driven by a shared conviction that PIF’s and Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure story is one of the most compelling in the world. The collaboration is expected to combine PIF’s vast project pipeline with I Squared’s global expertise, potentially accelerating the development of critical digital and energy infrastructure in the region.