BRIEF: Bain sells China data center operation to domestic buyer for $4 billion

Bain Capital said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its China data center operation to a Chinese consortium led by Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industry for $4 billion, representing the largest such data center sale in Chinese history.

The sale of WinTrix DC Group’s China operation, previously known as Chindata, represents Bain’s exit from the China data center market. The announcement comes after media reported in late August that several companies were bidding for WinTrix’s China assets in a deal that could value them at $4.2 billion. Reuters reported the group leading the buying consortium is also known as Guangdong Hec Technology (600673.SH), a Shanghai-listed company.

Bain formed Wintrix through the merger of two of its Asian-based data center assets in 2019, and listed Chindata in the U.S. in 2020. It later privatized Chindata in 2023, in a deal that valued the company at $3.16 billion.

Data centers have become a hot investment area in the last two years with the rise of AI, which requires the large amounts of computing power that such centers can provide. At the same time, Bain may have felt pressure to sell WinTrix’s China assets due to China’s preference that telecommunications infrastructure like data centers within the country be owned by domestic companies and investors.

By Doug Young

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