Partners Group has agreed to take a roughly $1 billion stake in AVK, a specialist manufacturer of alternators and backup power systems, as the Swiss private markets giant deepens its bet on infrastructure tied to surging global electricity demand from data centers and AI computing.
A Bet on Critical Backup Power Infrastructure
AVK, part of the broader STAMFORD | AvK alternator brand long associated with reliable backup and standby power generation, produces equipment used across critical applications including marine vessels, telecommunications networks, rail systems, and combined heat and power facilities. The company’s alternators, ranging from smaller 7.5 kVA units to massive 11,200 kVA systems, serve as essential components within generator sets that provide backup and emergency power when primary grid electricity fails, a category of infrastructure that has taken on new strategic importance as data center operators race to secure reliable power for AI computing workloads.
Fits Squarely Within Partners Group’s Infrastructure Push
The AVK investment extends a broader pattern of aggressive infrastructure dealmaking that has defined Partners Group’s business throughout 2026. The Swiss firm closed its fourth direct infrastructure investment program at more than $15 billion earlier this summer, a fund 50% larger than its predecessor, while its infrastructure secondaries strategy separately closed at more than $5.5 billion, having deployed roughly $2 billion globally over the past year. Combined, Partners Group’s infrastructure-focused fundraising has surpassed $20 billion in volume during the first half of 2026 alone, according to Evercore data, surpassing the firm’s full-year 2025 total.
Partners Group’s direct infrastructure strategy has delivered strong historical returns, generating 2.2 times net total value to paid-in capital and a 20.8% net internal rate of return across 21 exits since the strategy’s inception, a track record that has helped the firm continue attracting substantial new capital even amid broader industry headwinds facing private markets fundraising.
Why Backup Power Has Become a Hot Investment Theme
The AVK deal reflects a broader investment thesis gaining traction across private markets: as AI data centers proliferate globally, the backup and standby power infrastructure required to keep them running reliably has become an increasingly attractive, defensively positioned investment category. Data center operators require robust backup power systems capable of instantly picking up load if grid electricity is interrupted, given the enormous financial and operational costs associated with even brief computing downtime. That dynamic has elevated companies specializing in generator technology, alternators, and related backup power equipment from a relatively overlooked industrial niche into a category drawing serious interest from infrastructure-focused investors.
Part of a Broader Firm-Wide Momentum
The AVK transaction comes as Partners Group navigates a somewhat contradictory moment in its own corporate story. The firm posted record first-half fundraising of $16 billion in 2026, up from $12 billion in the same period a year earlier, pushing total assets under management to $186 billion as of June 30. At the same time, Partners Group’s own share price has struggled, closing recent sessions down more than 30% year-to-date and roughly 40% below its 52-week high, even as the firm completed a major exit from Polish convenience retailer Zabka Group in a deal valuing the company at approximately $8.6 billion.
That disconnect between strong operational momentum and weaker share price performance has drawn scrutiny from analysts, with UBS trimming its price target on the stock and short seller Grizzly Research separately accusing the firm of overvaluing its funds, allegations Partners Group has firmly rejected.
What Comes Next
With the AVK stake reinforcing Partners Group’s broader strategy of targeting infrastructure assets positioned to benefit from surging electricity demand tied to AI and data center growth, the firm’s ability to convert this kind of targeted dealmaking into stronger investor sentiment toward its own publicly traded shares remains an open question. As competition intensifies among global asset managers for infrastructure assets tied to the AI power buildout, Partners Group’s move into backup power technology specifically signals confidence that even less glamorous, traditionally industrial equipment categories can offer meaningful upside as the broader AI infrastructure boom continues reshaping global electricity demand.
