By Mark McSherry
Bain Capital said it will acquire an 80% stake in AQ Compute, the data center subsidiary of Hamburg-based investment firm Aquila Group, in a strategic alliance that will involve a “targeted multi-billion euro investment.”
The firms said the deal is aimed at significantly accelerating AQ Compute’s plans “to develop and operate sustainable data centers for hyperscale and AI customers across Europe.”
Founded by Aquila Group in 2020, AQ Compute provides modular and AI-ready data center and colocation services, primarily powered by clean energy.
“With significant investment, the company launched its first sustainable data center near Oslo in 2024, with additional projects underway in Barcelona, Milan and beyond,” said Bain Capital.
“Bain Capital supports this growth through its capital investment and global expertise in the data center industry, including its successful development of Bridge Data Centers in Asia. Together, the partners aim to build a leading European data center platform, utilising clean energy wherever feasible.”
Bain Capital partner Ali Haroon said: “The European data center sector presents an attractive market opportunity, driven by robust cloud demand, a need for high-performance computing and AI deployments, and data sovereignty across the region.
“Through this partnership with Aquila Group, we bring a differentiated, renewable energy angle to tackle the ever-growing power challenges in this critical part of Europe’s infrastructure.”
Aquila Group CEO Roman Rosslenbroich said: “Through our partnership with Bain Capital, we are well positioned to expand AQ Compute’s capabilities and solidify its role as a key player in Europe’s digital infrastructure.
“The rapid growth in data demands presents both a challenge and an opportunity — while more data centers are essential, they must be sustainable.
“Aquila will invest several hundred-million euros alongside Bain Capital’s larger commitment, with Aquila Capital providing co-investments.
“With our continued 20% 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.“
AQ Compute chairman Markus Holzer said: “At AQ Compute, we are uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for data processing by combining innovative, AI-ready infrastructure with a commitment to sustainability.
“This partnership with Bain Capital not only accelerates our development pipeline but also allows us to set new standards in sustainable data center operations across Europe.”
Bain Capital MD Rafael Coste Campos said: “We are thrilled to bring our deep European real estate sector expertise and our multi-layered experience growing companies with complex infrastructure services, tenant relationships and talent attraction to AQ Compute.
“Leveraging our global data center expertise, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of this ever growing and critically important sector and to build a market leading data center operation in Europe.”
Bain Capital principal Michael Huber said: “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.
“This investment will benefit from and complement our experience investing in and building one of the largest data center platforms in Asia – Bridge Data Centers and backing DC BLOX in the US.”