US-based private investment firm Bain Capital has agreed to sell its data centre portfolio company WinTriX DC Group’s Chinese business in a transaction valued at $4bn.

According to Bain Capital, the transaction is the largest merger and acquisition deal in China’s data centre industry history.

The business will be acquired by a consortium led by Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industry (HEC). The consortium purchasing the business also includes institutional investors such as insurance companies and local government funds.

This agreement follows earlier reports indicating that Bain Capital had engaged advisers and begun discussions with potential buyers for the sale.

WinTrix DC Group’s China operations (Chindata) have developed into a prominent hyperscale data centre platform since 2018, supporting China’s digital transformation.

Bain Capital China chair and partner Jonathan Zhu said: “Chindata’s journey reflects Bain Capital’s strategy of partnering with outstanding management teams to build category-defining infrastructure platforms.

“Today, Chindata has evolved into one of China’s leading digital infrastructure platforms, with unmatched scale and technical capabilities. We believe HEC will continue to build on this legacy, bringing its strong industrial capabilities to support the next phase of Chindata’s development.”

The deal is expected to help HEC expand into the data centre sector, enhancing its competitiveness in the digital economy infrastructure industry chain.

A Bain Capital spokesperson told Reuters that the HEC-led consortium emerged successful from a competitive bidding process that commenced earlier this year.

The deal is anticipated to conclude in the first quarter of next year, pending regulatory approval.

WinTriX counts Chinese internet technology company ByteDance as its largest customer. In 2022, ByteDance accounted for 86% of its revenue, as reported by Fitch Ratings.

In addition to its China operations, WinTriX also operates data centres in India and Malaysia.