Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, is expanding its digital infrastructure portfolio with an investment in UK data centre developer Yondr Group, tapping into the fast-growing sector that supports the huge amount of data produced by users.
The investment in Yondr, which currently has 58 megawatts of operational capacity and 878 megawatts in reserve, was made alongside an exiting investment from Apollo Asset Management, Mubadala said on Wednesday.
The size and value of Mubadala's investment in London-based Yondr were not disclosed. US asset manager Apollo Global Management made its investment in Yondr in June 2023.
Yondr is expected to play a “key part in providing solutions for some of the world’s fastest-growing corporations”, Mounir Barakat, senior executive director of digital infrastructure at Mubadala, said.
This is the result of “strong growth in demand for hyperscale data centres in response to the rising data demands from AI adoption, 5G and IoT [Internet of Things]", he added.
Remote activity, largely set off by the coronavirus pandemic, has led to increased data consumption fuelling demand for cloud services.
The use of these services continues to grow in the Middle East amid the rise of technology savvy consumers and an evolving digital landscape, underpinned by governments' efforts to develop the economy.
This has given data centre and cloud providers an incentive to tap into the potential offered by the region.
Among the most notable global companies that have invested in the region are Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, IBM and Alibaba Cloud, which have all opened cloud and data centres in the Middle East.
The Middle East's data centre market is projected to grow to more than $9.6 billion by 2029, at a compound annual rate of 9.52 per cent, from an estimated $5.57 billion in 2023, data from Research and Markets shows.
That serves as a "big diversification bet" for sovereign wealth funds like Mubadala to allow their holdings to be concentrated on artificial intelligence and data processing, collectively the "next big thing", said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Dubai-based Century Financial.
"Data and AI integration are now visible in all aspects of the end consumer's life. As such, the outside potential of the data centre growth is likely to remain persistent for a considerable amount of time," he told The National.
"Major GCC nations are competing to be the first to capture this theme and leverage their past investments for their economic benefits."
Mubadala's latest investment into the data centre space follows previous ventures, including an up to $500 million investment in US-based Cologix in 2019, a $350 million investment in Singapore's Princeton Digital Group in 2022 and an undisclosed amount in pan-American company Aligned Data Centres in 2023.
The fund is also investing in other global fibre network providers, including in the UK’s CityFibre and GlobalConnect, giving it a bigger footprint across Northern Europe.
Mubadala will be a “key financial partner” for Yondr, whose investment will help “accelerate our growth and continue delivering sustainable data centre solutions to our clients worldwide, meeting the increasing demand for capacity”, said Chester Reid, chief financial officer of Yondr.
Mubadala currently has investments in six continents across multiple sectors and asset classes.
Its total assets under management in 2023 rose 9.5 per cent to Dh1.11 trillion ($302.2 billion), having invested Dh89 billion in technology sectors including artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, life sciences and clean energy.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
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The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
