Bain Capital Plans IPO of Chinese Data-Center Operator

(Bloomberg) -- Bain Capital is planning an IPO of Chinese data-center operator ChinData Group, people familiar with the matter said.

The private equity firm has asked investment banks to pitch for a role on the share sale, which could take place next year, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Any deal would value the company at more than $1 billion, though precise targets haven’t been set, the people said.

Bain invested in Beijing-based ChinData earlier this year and merged it with existing portfolio company Bridge Data Centres to form a pan-Asian data-center platform. The combined group has facilities in China, India and Southeast Asia, according to Bain’s website.

ChinData would join rival data-center operators GDS Holdings Ltd. and 21Vianet Group Inc. in seeking a public listing to fund expansion. Beijing-based GDS raised $201 million from U.S. IPO in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its shares have since risen nearly fivefold, giving it a market value of $6.9 billion.

Deliberations are still at an early stage, and the company hasn’t made a final decision on the fundraising size or listing venue, the people said. A representative for Bain declined to comment, while ChinData didn’t immediately answer phone calls and an email seeking comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Carol Zhong in Hong Kong at yzhong71@bloomberg.net;Julia Fioretti in Hong Kong at jfioretti4@bloomberg.net;Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, ;Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Ben Scent, Adveith Nair

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