Der Service-Anbieter von ByteDance will einen großen Deal im Wert von 30 Milliarden Yuan abschließen.

Investing in data centers today is like investing in railways in the 19th century. Whether you agree with this statement or not, investing in data centers will become the hottest business idea.

Last week, a corresponding transaction came to light - Bain Capital received a binding offer from Runze Technology. Runze Technology wants to acquire the Chinese assets of Qinhai Data, which are held by Bain Capital, for a transaction price of $4.2 billion (about 30 billion yuan). Qinhai Data is a provider of data centers, whose business covers China, India and Malaysia; Runze Technology is a giant provider of data centers with a market value of 100 billion yuan in the domestic market. Both companies are data service providers for ByteDance.

According to foreign media reports, not only Runze Technology is interested in the bidding, but also several A - share listed companies and state - owned capital companies from Beijing and Shanghai. The participation of multiple bidders proves the value of this 30 - billion - yuan transaction.

Touzhong Jiachuan has found that data centers are also becoming the favorite objects of top PE companies in the real - estate investment market. Especially since 2021, the corresponding investment has been steadily increasing. Companies such as Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, CDH Investments, GLP China, Blackstone and KKR are advocates in this field. Jonathan Gray, vice - chairman of the Blackstone Group, even said: "Data centers are the infrastructure for AI. They are one of the best investments we've ever made."

01.

A Giant with a Market Value of 100 Billion Yuan

Wants to Close a Big Deal with Bain Capital

That Bain Capital wants to sell Qinhai Data is no longer news. Corresponding rumors emerged in March last year. In May this year, the rumors in the market became clearer. At that time, foreign media reported that the potential transaction value might be more than $4 billion.

Last week, this news was confirmed. According to Bloomberg, Runze Technology, headquartered in Langfang, has submitted a binding offer to Bain Capital to acquire the Chinese assets of Qinhai Data. The transaction value could be $4.2 billion.

Friends who are familiar with the AI industry will surely not be unfamiliar with Qinhai Data and Runze Technology.

In 2015, Ju Jing, one of the early participants in domestic data - center construction, founded Qinhai Data, which mainly provides data - usage services for customers in the capital region and the Yangtze River Delta. In April 2019, Bain Capital acquired 44.6% of the shares of Qinhai Data for $2 billion. In the same year, it merged Qinhai Data with Bridge Data Centres founded by Bain and renamed the company Qinhai Data Group.

Under the leadership of founder Ju Jing and Bain Capital, Qinhai Data went public on NASDAQ on September 30, 2020, and it became the first Chinese data company to be listed on the U.S. stock exchange. In the following two years, the management of Qinhai Data changed. Founder Ju Jing left the company, and Bain Capital took over the leadership. In 2023, they privatized Qinhai Data for a total amount of $3.2 billion.

At the time of privatization by Bain, Qinhai Data already had 33 data centers. In 2022, its revenues were 4.55 billion yuan and the net profit was 652 million yuan. The company was in a phase of rapid growth, with revenues increasing by 60% and net profit by 106% compared with the previous year. Undoubtedly, Bain Capital holds a valuable asset in its hand. However, due to the impact of geopolitics and other factors, Bain is constantly looking for ways to sell its investment and exit the business.

Runze Technology is the largest provider of data centers in the domestic market. It was founded in 2009 and went public on the Second - Board stock exchange in 2022 by acquiring Pulisheng. In 2024, its stock price tripled thanks to the AI wave, and today it has become an industry giant with a market value of about 100 billion yuan.

It is worth noting that the largest customer of both Runze Technology and Qinhai Data is ByteDance. The data from 2022 shows that ByteDance is the most important customer of Qinhai Data, accounting for about 80% of its revenues. Runze Technology has been providing services for ByteDance since 2018. According to the company's 2024 annual report, ByteDance accounts for 60% of the company's revenues. If Runze Technology can successfully acquire Qinhai Data, it will surely be able to utilize strategic customers and regional networks and strengthen its dominant position in the Chinese market.

Naturally, it is still uncertain whether the above - mentioned transaction will be successful. After all, Runze Technology is not the only bidder. According to reports, Dongyangguangke (market value about 70 billion yuan), which has a liquid - cooling business, the game company Youzu Network (market value about 16 billion yuan) and state - owned capital companies from Beijing and Shanghai are interested in the bidding. It remains to be seen who will win the bid in the end.

Although the final buyer of Qinhai Data has not been determined yet, investing in data centers is already a widespread practice. According to incomplete statistics from Touzhong Jiachuan, top PE institutions such as Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, CDH Investments and GLP China have already participated in the market.

In March last year, institutions such as Hillhouse Capital and Boyu Capital jointly invested $587 million in the subsidiary GDSI of Global Data Center Group. This company, founded in 2022 and headquartered in Singapore, is a provider of data centers that conducts comprehensive business in China and Southeast Asia.

CDH completed the first closing of a 1 - billion - yuan special investment fund (target size: 2.5 billion yuan) in January this year. This fund only invests in one direction, namely data centers. And this is not CDH's first special data - center fund. In 2020, they raised 2 billion yuan for investment in this area. According to a publication by Touzhong.com in January this year, the first 2 - billion - yuan fund achieved an annual cash distribution of at least 8% during the investment period. By the end of last year, the DPI of the fund was 0.72, which means an excellent return.

GLP China, a top - tier institution for real - estate investment in the Asia - Pacific region, entered the field of data - center investment as early as 2018. So far, it has placed 20 data centers in the domestic market, which can provide an IT load of 1400 MW (megawatts). In April this year, the GLP Data Center Income Fund (Phase I) was also closed at over 2.6 billion yuan.

In addition, many local state - owned capital companies have increased their investment in data centers. For example, Guiyang, a city that has undergone transformation and upgrading through the data industry, is one of the advocates. The 2 - billion - yuan fund for digital economic development founded by Guiyang has included data centers in its investment scope.

02.

More Aggressive Overseas Investments

Data Centers Drive US GDP

Compared with the domestic market, the overseas market seems more aggressive in data - center investment.

Waldemar Szlezak, head of global digital infrastructure at KKR, wrote an article comparing the investment in data centers with the great railway construction in the 19th century. They estimate that the demand for data centers in the United States will almost triple by 2030 and will require investments of over $1 trillion. Blackstone takes a global view and estimates that about $2 trillion in global digital - infrastructure investment will be required by 2030. "This growth offers us a generational investment opportunity in the field of data centers," said Ken Caplan, global co - chief investment officer of Blackstone.

A report from Synergy Research Group shows that the total amount of global mergers and acquisitions of data - center assets more than doubled in 2024, reaching a record of $57 billion. The largest transaction was made by Blackstone. Blackstone acquired the largest data - center platform in the Asia - Pacific region, AirTrunk, for A$24 billion (about 110 billion yuan), setting a new global record for data - center transactions. Three years ago, the Blackstone Group acquired the data - center provider QTS for $10 billion, and its current market value is already $25 billion, which has become one of Blackstone's most successful investments.

In addition, AI giants are investing together with PE companies. Meta has recently set a financing plan of $29 billion for data centers. The investment management company Pimco will handle the debt - financing portion of $26 billion, and the alternative asset management company Blue Owl Capital will make an equity investment of $3 billion. These funds will be used for the construction of a data - center project in Louisiana.

"Stargate", initiated by OpenAI, is jointly investing $500 billion with giants such as SoftBank and Oracle in the construction of more than 20 data centers in the United States to ensure the global leading position of the U.S. AI industry. $500 billion is equivalent to about 3.6 trillion yuan, which is about three times the value of the Yajiang Project. The scale of this project is comparable to the U.S. "Manhattan Project" and the "Star Wars Strategy".

In addition, the construction of data centers has made a significant contribution to the increase in U.S. economic statistics. The chief economist of Apollo said that private consumption is usually the main driver of U.S. GDP growth, but in the first half of this year, investment in data centers contributed as much to U.S. GDP growth as consumer spending. The contribution of consumer spending is steadily declining, while the contribution of data - center construction is steadily increasing.

This means that investing in data centers is not only the acquisition of a coveted asset but also the start of the global AI - industry revolutions of the giants.

References:

1. Dongsishitiao Capital, CDH has founded a very "new" fund, January 21, 2025

2. Green Futures Research Institute, August 20, 2025

3. Bain is Said to Draw Chinese Bidders for $4 Billion Data Centers

This article is from the WeChat account "Beyond the J - Curve", author: Yang Boyu, published by 36Kr with permission.