Changes source, adds details in paragraphs 2, 6 and 7

Oct 6 (Reuters) - French investment firm Ardian is acquiring one of Ireland's largest energy utilities Energia Group from I Squared Capital, the companies said in a statement on Monday, betting on a power supplier poised to serve the booming AI industry.

The deal will value Energia at over 2.5 billion euros ($2.93 billion), the Financial Times, which first reported the deal, said citing people familiar with the matter.

I Squared Capital had acquired the company in 2016 for 1 billion euros.

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-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.

"We are proud to be investing in Energia, which marks Ardian’s first investment in Ireland," the group's co-head of infrastructure Juan Angoitia said in a statement.

Energia owns onshore wind farms with a capacity of 358 mega watts, supplies gas and electricity to almost 900,000 clients and employs 1,117 people, as per its website.

It supplies approximately 17% of Ireland’s total electricity requirements and 20% of its total wind power, the statement said.

($1 = 0.8540 euros)

(Reporting by Anusha Shah and Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

((AnushaDevang.Shah@thomsonreuters.com;))