Investcorp shies away from data centre investment, focuses on services, executive says at Davos

By Divya Chowdhury and Federico Maccioni

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Alternative concern steadfast Investcorp is eschewing large investments successful information centres, a abstraction it ​considers excessively crowded, its vice president and CIO said connected Wednesday, opting ‌instead for sectors offering amended returns and structure from geopolitical risks.

Investors person poured billions of dollars into artificial ‌intelligence, including information centres, arsenic precocious expectations for what galore presumption arsenic a transformative exertion person driven spending, creating insatiable request for capital.

However, unease astir sky-high institution valuations and fears of a imaginable AI bubble person present begun to emerge.

"Ironically, we are not truly ⁠going large and heavy into ‌data centres chiefly due to the fact that ... excessively overmuch superior has gone into it. Returns person gotten compressed to levels wherever arguably, you tin get ‍a amended risk-return trade-off successful different areas," Rishi Kapoor told Reuters.

Speaking connected the sidelines of the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland, Kapoor said Investcorp is focusing connected investments successful home ​professional, commercialized and healthcare services, IT services arsenic good arsenic transportation.

"We are benignant ‌of picking and choosing, placing our bets successful areas wherever we spot wide precocious condemnation and immoderate grade of insulation, if not resilience, to these risks that are different hard to quantify oregon mitigate," helium said.

Investcorp is the Middle East's biggest alternate concern steadfast and had $60 cardinal successful assets nether absorption arsenic of the extremity of June.

It ⁠is focusing connected the U.S., the Gulf portion ​and India, Kapoor said, adding that Investcorp sees ​a steadfast IPO pipeline and backdrop successful these markets. The institution has a fistful of assets that could perchance beryllium listed this year, helium ‍added, without providing ⁠further details.

Asked astir the red-hot Indian market, which ranked arsenic the world's No. 2 for superior equity issuances past year, Kapoor said that the momentum is ⁠likely to stay with IPOs proving "a precise valid, viable way to monetisation for backstage sponsors".

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(Reporting by Divya Chowdhury successful Davos and Federico ‌Maccioni successful Dubai; Editing by Joe Bavier)