Oct 6 (Reuters) - French investment firm Ardian is

acquiring one of Ireland's largest energy utilities Energia

Group in a deal that values the firm at more than 2.5 billion

euros ($2.93 billion), betting on a power supplier poised to

serve the surging artificial intelligence industry, the

Financial Times reported on Monday.

Ardian has agreed to buy Energia Group from infrastructure

investment firm I Squared Capital, the FT report said, citing

people familiar with the matter. I Squared Capital had acquired

the company in 2016 for 1 billion euros.

Ardian, Energia and I-Squared did not immediately respond to

Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours

Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report.

The deal underscores surging investor interest in data

centers that cater to the booming market for AI tools and power

their growing adoption across the globe.

BlackRock ( BLK )-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is nearing a

deal to acquire Aligned Data Centers that could value the data

center operator at around $40 billion, two people familiar with

the matter told Reuters last week.

Energia represents Ardian's first deal in Ireland, the

group's co-head of infrastructure Juan Angoitia said in a

statement to the FT, adding that Energia "has ambitious plans to

grow, driven by secured capital projects and increasing energy

demand."

Ardian's managing director William Briggs said in an

interview that "Energia is a pioneering example of how to unlock

growth by a novel approach of co-development of data centres and

renewables", the report said.

Energia owns onshore wind farms with a capacity of 358 mega

watts, supplies gas and electricity to over 898,000 clients and

employs 1,117 people, as per its website.

($1 = 0.8530 euros)