Bain Capital has acquired an 80 percent stake in AQ Compute.
The US private investment firm did not disclose how much it spent on the majority acquisition of the European data center firm, but said that it would invest billions alongside previous majority owner Aquila Group.
Aquila founded AQ Compute in 2020, with its first data center opening in Oslo, Norway, this February. That 6MW site is currently being expanded, with 21MW of power available at the plot. It could further be expanded to support up to 171MW.
It is currently developing a 60MW data center in Barcelona, Spain, as well as in Milan, Italy, targeting hyperscale and AI customers. Now, Bain and German investment firm Aquila say they plan to "significantly accelerate" the company's European build-out.
“Having invested more than $1 billion in real estate over the past three years, Bain Capital’s first European investment in data centers means we now have a truly global platform," Michael Huber, a principal at Bain Capital said.
"This investment will benefit from and complement our experience investing in and building one of the largest data centers in Asia – ChinData and backing DC Blox in the US.”
Roman Rosslenbroich, co-founder and CEO of Aquila Group, added: “Aquila will invest several hundred-million euros alongside Bain Capital’s larger commitment, with Aquila Capital providing co-investments. With our continued 20 percent stake, we will ensure AQ Compute’s growth aligns with our long-term vision for sustainable infrastructure, leveraging synergies with Aquila Clean Energy, a major developer and independent power producer in the clean energy space.“
Bain Capital acquired ChinData in 2019, and merged it with Bridge Data Centres. The combined company went public in 2020, with Bain retaining a 42 percent stake, and other companies including SK Holdings buying in.
However, last year Bain took ChinData private again in a $3.16 billion merger deal, which saw the data center operator combined with two wholly-owned Bain subsidiaries, BCPE Chivalry Bidco Limited, and BCPE Chivalry Merger Sub Limited.
Since March, Bain has sought to sell all or parts of ChinData.
