I Squared Capital Targets Brazil’s AI Boom with Elea Data Centers Acquisition

I Squared Capital has agreed to acquire Elea Data Centers, one of Brazil’s largest carrier-neutral data center platforms, in a move to capitalize on surging demand for AI and cloud infrastructure across Latin America.

Elea operates a nationwide network of nine interconnected campuses spanning São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, with more than 300MW of powered land and over 1GW currently in development. The pipeline is expected to require more than $10 billion in capital, positioning the platform as a key player in Brazil’s digital infrastructure buildout.

I Squared said the investment will support Elea’s expansion plans, particularly the development of high-density, AI-ready infrastructure. Brazil has emerged as the region’s largest data center market, supported by more than 180 million internet users and growing demand for cloud storage, local inference and compute capacity.

“The company combines a national colocation footprint with a substantial and well-located powered landbank… which provides a strong foundation for capacity expansion,” said Gautam Bhandari, Global CIO of I Squared Capital.

Elea’s leadership highlighted the country’s structural advantages. “Brazil is one of the few markets in the world with gigawatt-scale renewable energy available for data center expansion,” said Alessandro Lombardi, President and Founder of Elea. “With this investment, we are scaling a distributed AI infrastructure platform designed to unlock that potential.”

I Squared will partner with Elea’s founder-led management team alongside Piemonte Holding. The firm has invested more than $3 billion in seven investments across Latin America since 2015.