Latest news with #Blackstone-led
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bain Capital to sell China data centre business likely valued at over $4 billion, sources say
By Kane Wu HONG KONG (Reuters) -U.S. investment firm Bain Capital is seeking to sell the China business of data centre operator WinTriX DC Group, in a deal that could value the business at over $4 billion, two people with knowledge of the situation said. Bain Capital has engaged with advisers who have held preliminary conversations with potential buyers in recent months, said the people, declining to be named as the information was not public. The China business of WinTriX, formerly known as Chindata Group Holdings, has estimated 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of close to 4 billion yuan, they said. Bain Capital declined to comment. The data centre operator did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The potential deal comes nearly two years after Bain Capital took Nasdaq-listed Chindata private in a $3.16 billion deal. Bain Capital first acquired Chinese data centre operator Chindata in 2019 and merged it with Southeast Asia data centre operator Bridge Data Centres in the same year. The listed entity was a combination of both. Since the take-private, the Boston-based firm separated the two businesses again under WinTriX, said a third person with knowledge of the situation. The sale also comes as data centre valuations have soared in the last few years, driven by rapid developments of artificial intelligence. Last year Australian data centre operator AirTrunk was sold to a Blackstone-led consortium for over 20 times its forward core earnings, Reuters reported. WinTriX's Chinese rival GDS Holdings is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 8.48 times, LSEG data showed. Fitch Ratings however in February downgraded WinTriX's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to "BB" from "BBB" with a stable outlook, which it said reflected its expectations that WinTriX would face significantly higher business risks as it changed its strategy to focus on overseas investment. Fitch cited slower hyperscale data centre demand and higher competition in China as one of the additional risks WinTriX would face. WinTriX counts social media giant Bytedance as its largest customer, which contributed to 86% of its revenue in 2022, according to the Fitch report. Outside China, it also operates data centres in India and Malaysia. In March, WinTriX's unit Bridge Data Centres, which operates data centres outside China, secured a $2.8 billion bank financing to fuel its data centre expansion, it said at the time. Bain Capital will keep its control of Bridge Data Centres for the time being, said the sources. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Bain Capital to sell China data centre business likely valued at over US$4 billion: sources
[HONG KONG] US investment firm Bain Capital is seeking to sell the China business of data centre operator WinTriX DC Group, in a deal that could value the business at over US$4 billion, two sources with knowledge of the situation said. Bain Capital has engaged with advisers who have held preliminary conversations with potential buyers in recent months, said the sources, declining to be named as the information was not public. The China business of WinTriX, formerly known as Chindata Group Holdings, has estimated 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) of close to four billion yuan, they said. Bain Capital declined to comment. The data centre operator did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The potential deal comes nearly two years after Bain Capital took Nasdaq-listed Chindata private in a US$3.16 billion deal. Bain Capital first acquired Chinese data centre operator Chindata in 2019 and merged it with South-east Asia data centre operator Bridge Data Centres in the same year. The listed entity was a combination of both. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Since the take-private, the Boston-based firm separated the two businesses again under WinTriX, said a third source with knowledge of the situation. The sale also comes as data centre valuations have soared in the last few years, driven by rapid developments of artificial intelligence. Last year Australian data centre operator AirTrunk was sold to a Blackstone-led consortium for over 20 times its forward core earnings, Reuters reported. WinTriX's Chinese rival GDS Holdings is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 8.48 times, LSEG data showed. Fitch Ratings however in February downgraded WinTriX's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to 'BB' from 'BBB' with a stable outlook, which it said reflected its expectations that WinTriX would face significantly higher business risks as it changed its strategy to focus on overseas investment. Fitch cited slower hyperscale data centre demand and higher competition in China as one of the additional risks WinTriX would face. WinTriX counts social media giant Bytedance as its largest customer, which contributed to 86 per cent of its revenue in 2022, according to the Fitch report. Outside China, it also operates data centres in India and Malaysia. In March, WinTriX's unit Bridge Data Centres, which operates data centres outside China, secured a US$2.8 billion bank financing to fuel its data centre expansion, it said at the time. Bain Capital will keep its control of Bridge Data Centres for the time being, said the sources. REUTERS
Channel Post MEA
17-02-2025
- Business
- Channel Post MEA
Datacenter M&A Deals Break Records In 2024
Data from Synergy Research Group shows that after a relative lull in 2023, the value of data center-oriented M&A deals that closed in 2024 blew past the $70 billion milestone and finally reached $73 billion. 2024 was already in record-breaking territory, before a Blackstone-led acquisition of AirTrunk closed at the end of December. At almost $16 billion, that acquisition set a new benchmark for the biggest deal ever closed. Previously, 2022 had been the peak in terms of the aggregate value of all deals formally closed, at $52 billion. In 2023 there was a drop off with total value falling by 50% to $26 billion. However, 2022 numbers were boosted by the two biggest deals that had ever been seen in the industry, each valued at $11 billion or more. If mega-deals of $2 billion or more are separated out, then the trend in the flow of what might be termed 'regular deals' shows a different pattern. 2021 was the peak, 2022 dropped off by 32%, 2023 dropped again but only by 7%, and 2024 jumped by 133%. Looking to 2025, over $7 billion in deals have already closed and there is another $15 billion agreed but not yet formally closed. Synergy is also aware of some $20 billion in possible future deals, where companies are seeking new sources of funding or considering strategic options. Since 2015 Synergy has logged a total of 1,514 data center-oriented M&A deals, with an aggregate value of $324 billion. Most of this comes from company acquisitions, but the numbers also include minority equity investments, investments in joint ventures, acquisitions of individual data centers, share sales and acquisition of land for data center development. Prior to late 2024, the four largest deals ever were each valued at $10 billion or more and closed in 2021 and 2022. These were the acquisitions of CyrusOne, Switch, CoreSite and QTS, who all feature in the worldwide top 15 ranking of colocation operators. Apart from the Blackstone acquisition or AirTrunk, the biggest deals closed in 2024 were two separate equity investments in Vantage Data Centers, which combined were valued at $9.2 billion. In two separate deals, Vantage also received $3.1 billion equity investment in its EMEA operations. Other large 2024 deals were equity investments in EdgeConneX and DataBank. Apart from the rapid rise in overall data center M&A activity over the ten-year period, the most notable feature has been the extent to which private equity has flooded into the market. In 2020 private equity accounted for 54% of the value of closed deals, rising to 65% in 2021, and since then it has remained in the 80-90% range. 'There has been a tremendous increase in the demand for data center capacity, driven by cloud services, social networking and a range of both consumer and enterprise digital services. There is no end in sight to this trend, with generative AI technology and services adding a further boost to already strong demand,' said John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group. 'Specialist data center operators have either not been able or were not prepared to fund those investments themselves, while private equity investors have been more than willing to step in and fund growth initiatives. Looking at pending deals and the future pipeline, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that 2025 will be another boom year for data center M&A.' 0 0
