Why Bain Capital is Selling its China Data Centre Business
US investment firm Bain Capital is reportedly looking to sell the China business of WinTriX DC Group, which could lead to a US$4bn valuation.
According to Reuters, who reported on the story, Bain Capital has engaged with advisers and held preliminary discussions with potential buyers already.
WinTriX, formerly known as Chindata Group Holdings, has estimated 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of close to 4 billion yuan, Reuters’ sources said.
Although Bain Capital has not yet confirmed a deal, this news comes nearly two years after Bain Capital acquired Chindata for US$3.16bn. The investment firm first acquired the Chinese data centre operator in 2019 and proceeded to merge it with Bridge Data Centres in the same year.
According to sources from Reuters, the firm then separated the two businesses again under WinTriX.
How Bain Capital is evolving its data centre investments
The sale comes as data centre valuations have dramatically increased in the last few years, which have been driven by the global AI boom. Data centre operators have been keen to future-proof their systems with the technology, while also responding to rising customer demands.
In response, global capital is now racing to ride the digital infrastructure wave. Significantly, competition is hotting up for data centre real estate, particularly in power-constrained locations.
Speaking in April 2025, Stephen Beard, Global Head of Data Centres at Knight Frank, explained: “Industry stakeholders must navigate regulatory complexities, power availability concerns and sustainability requirements to remain competitive in this high-growth sector.”
When it comes to WinTriX DC Group, Fitch Ratings downgraded its long-term foreign and local-currency issuer default ratings to “BB” from “BBB” in February 2025, citing a stable outlook.
Fitch suggested that this new rating reflected its prediction that WinTriX would face significantly higher business risks as it changed its strategy to focus on investment abroad. Reuters said that Fitch also cited slower hyperscale data centre demand and higher competition in China as additional risks for WinTriX.
Providing carrier-neutral hyperscale data centre solutions in Mainland China, India and Southeast Asia, WinTriX DC Group is able to offer services in AI, cloud computing, smart cities, online entertainment and other on-demand services.
It also provides integrated data centre solutions, including in colocation and rental services, infrastructure, power supply, connectivity and operation and maintenance.
The company currently counts its largest customer as ByteDance, which is currently greatly investing in data centres.
How the data centre industry is evolving
According to Bain & Company in September 2024, the AI market is expected to surge to almost US$1tn by 2027.
With the market for AI and its hardware continuing to expand, the company’s fifth annual Global Technology Report indicates that it will continue to grow to 40-55% a year and lead to revenues between US$780bn to US$990bn.
“The pace of technological change has never been faster, and senior executives are looking to understand how these disruptions will reshape the sector,” the report said. “Generative AI (Gen AI) is the prime mover of the current wave of change, but it is complicated by post-globalisation shifts and the need to adapt business processes to deliver value.”
Likewise, it has anticipated that data centres will only get bigger, with more processing moving closer to the edge, which Bain suggests could lead to greater chip shortages. Already, AI is reshaping how data centre facilities operate - an impact which is still growing.
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