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By Josh Saul and Ellen Schneider
Investment giants KKR & Co. and Blackstone Inc. are leading a combined $17 billion investment in the natural gas industry, marking a massive push of private funds into a sector helping to quench artificial intelligence firms’ relentless thirst for energy.
KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on Tuesday agreed to pay $10 billion for a 45% equity stake in Sempra’s infrastructure arm, which builds liquefied natural gas projects. Meanwhile, Blackstone said it would lead a $7 billion investment to take a 49.9% equity stake in the second development phase of Sempra’s Port Arthur export terminal in Texas.
The Blackstone-led deal is one of the largest private credit investments on record, and marks the first time private lenders are financing such a large project in construction. Blackstone provided around 60% of the financing and brought in other lenders for the rest, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deals highlight the confidence among investors that US LNG exports will be a pillar of the global energy landscape in the decades ahead as nations in Asia and elsewhere use the fuel to power their growing economies. It comes as Big Tech companies clamor for energy to power data centers and the Trump administration pursues fossil fuel dominance.
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KKR is buying the Sempra stake through its global infrastructure strategy, which invests across the Americas and Western Europe. KKR’s infrastructure business has about $90 billion in assets under management.
The sale of the Sempra Infrastructure Partners interest to KKR will help strengthen Sempra’s credit profile and improve its business mix “with a goal of approximately 95% earnings from regulated US utilities,” and it eliminates the need for previously announced equity issuances, it said in a statement Tuesday. Sempra shares rose as much as 5.4%.
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The KKR deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. After closing, a KKR-led consortium will become the majority owner of Sempra Infrastructure Partners, holding a 65% equity stake, while Sempra will retain a 25% interest alongside Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s existing 10% stake.
Sempra is expected to receive 47% of the cash at close, 41% by year-end 2027 and the balance about seven years after closing, according to the statement.
Private credit lenders have been increasingly focused on investment-grade companies and large public firms for financing opportunities as they look to diversify in the growing market.
— With assistance from Allison McNeely, Ruth Liao, Joe Ryan, and Michelle Ma
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