Silicon Valley’s Silver Lake invests in Abu Dhabi’s AI company Group 42

Group 42, the Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence and cloud computing company, secured a substantial investment from US private equity manager Silver Lake.

As part of the deal, Silver Lake’s managing partner and co-chief executive Egon Durban will join G42’s board, the company said. Neither the size of the stake or the amount invested were disclosed.

“We are honoured to partner with a world-class investor like Silver Lake and proud to be among their cutting-edge portfolio of technology leaders,” said G42’s chief executive Peng Xiao.

“We aim to work with the best technologies and the best partners to deliver value to every market in the world.” G42, which owns and operates the world’s 26th-most powerful supercomputer, is carrying out high-level fundamental and applied research into AI as well as developing cloud computing for the most demanding use cases.

Proceeds from Silver Lake’s investment, reported by The Wall Street Journal to be worth about $800 million, will be used to help it scale its operations in the UAE and in international markets, G42 said.

It has quickly become a globally respected technology leader, and is poised to extend its leadership in AI and digital transformation, Mr Durban said.

“G42 has not only experienced tremendous growth in recent years, but has done so by partnering with large-scale clients to address the most complex technology challenges,” he said.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to work with them.”

Silver Lake, which specialises in technology investments, has more than $79 billion of committed capital and assets under management.

In September last year, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company invested $2bn into Silver Lake as the companies agreed to partner on a long-term investment strategy spanning 25 years.

Mubadala also took a minority stake in the company.