American investment firm Bain Capital could be considering selling off the China business of data center operator WinTriX DC Group, in a deal that could value the business at over US$ 4 billion.
In a recent report, Reuters cited unnamed sources familiar with the potential deal, and reported that Bain Capital had consulted with advisors who have held primary conversations with potential buyers. However, Bain Capital has neither commented, nor issued any official statement on the matter, and there is no information yet as to the reason, a possible timeline or who these potential buyers could be.
WinTriX is a Chinese carrier-neutral hyperscale data-centre service operator. Readers would recall that in 2019, Bain Capital had acquired Chinese data center operator Chindata, and then merged it with Bridge Data Centers in the same year. Then two years ago, it took Chindata private. But shortly afterwards, it separated the two again with Chindata’s businesses now under the WinTriX DC Group, which includes Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance as one of its biggest clients.
Amidst all this it is interesting to note that Fitch Ratings, an American credit rating agency, that had previously granted WinTriX DC Group a rating of ‘BB’ with a Stable Outlook, and downgraded it to ‘BBB-‘ with a Stable Outlook. Then, in August 2024, Fitch withdrew the Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) saying, “Fitch is withdrawing the ratings as WinTriX has chosen to stop participating in the rating process. Therefore, Fitch will no longer have sufficient information to maintain the ratings. Accordingly, Fitch will no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage for WinTriX.”
China’s DC landscape at a glance
Tariff wars and geopolitics aside, tech savvy China remains one of the biggest data center markets in the world. Some of the biggest digital infrastructure hubs in China include Beijing, Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Shanghai.
According to Mordor Intelligencev, the China data center market size is estimated at 4.27GW in 2025, and is expected to reach 8.26GW by 2030, growing at a Compounded Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.08 percent. The market is further expected to generate colocation revenue of US$ 4,011.7 million in 2025 and is projected to reach US$ 9,706.6 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19.33 percent during the forecast period (2025-2030).
Readers would recall that in October 2024, China had announced a pilot program allowing foreign companies to invest in internet data centers (IDCs) and online data processing and transaction processing in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen. The move, announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), marked a significant expansion of foreign investment opportunities in the country’s rapidly growing digital sector. Previously, foreign companies were limited in their involvement in the telecommunications industry. But now, China appears more amenable to opening up in the interest of technological advancement, even as it continues to nurture its homegrown players.