Global private investment firm Bain Capital and sustainable investment specialist Aquila Group have partnered to develop a sustainable data centre platform in Europe.
Bain Capital is acquiring an 80% stake in AQ Compute, Aquila Group's data centre subsidiary, which focuses on providing modular and AI-ready data centre and colocation services powered by clean energy.
This alliance, backed by a substantial investment, aims to accelerate AQ Compute's growth and expand its footprint across key European markets. Leveraging Bain Capital's global expertise in the data centre industry and its successful track record with Bridge Data Centers in Asia, the partners aim to build a European data centre platform that prioritizes sustainability and energy efficiency.
CBRE acted as the exclusive advisor to Aquila Group on this deal.
Ali Haroon, Bain Capital partner, said: ‘The European data centre 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.’
Rafael Coste Campos, managing director at Bain Capital, commented: ‘Leveraging our global data centre expertise, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of this ever-growing and critically important sector and to build a market-leading data centre operation in Europe.’
Michael Huber, principal at Bain Capital principal, said: ‘Having invested more than $1 billion in real estate over the past three years, Bain Capital’s first European investment in data centres 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 centres in Asia – Chindata and backing DC BLOX in the US.’
Roman Rosslenbroich, co-founder and CEO of Aquila Group, commented: ‘The rapid growth in data demands presents both a challenge and an opportunity — while more data centres 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.’
Markus Holzer, chairman of AQ Compute, stated: ‘This partnership with Bain Capital not only accelerates our development pipeline but also allows us to set new standards in sustainable data centre operations across Europe.’
Pablo Callejo, managing director & head of Investment Banking, OPRE, Europe of CBRE, added: 'This significant deal gives continuity to the operation that we originally carried out for the launch of the investment vehicle two years ago. Furthermore, it demonstrates the ability and expertise of CBRE in international deals of scale, solidifying our position as a key player in the growth of the Data Centre market at a European Level.'
Founded in 2020 by Aquila Group, AQ Compute offers modular, AI-ready data centre and colocation services powered by clean energy. With Bain Capital's investment, the company is expanding rapidly, launching its first data centre in Oslo and developing additional projects in Barcelona, Milan, and other European cities.
