Chinese Data Center Provider ChinData Picks Banks for $500M IPO

Julia Fioretti, Cathy Chan and Manuel Baigorri (Bloomberg) -- ChinData Group, a Chinese data center operator backed by Bain Capital, has selected Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley to work on its planned initial public offering this year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The share sale could raise as much as $500 million and will likely happen in the US, the people said, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. 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 its US IPO in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its shares have more than quintupled, giving it a market value of about $8 billion.

Bain invested in Beijing-based ChinData last 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.

Deliberations are still at an early stage and details of the offering including listing venue and size could still change, the people said. Representatives for Bain, ChinData, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

IFR reported the banks were working with on ChinData’s planned IPO earlier on Thursday.

The private equity firm invited banks to pitch for a role on the share sale late last year, when it was still toying between the US and Hong Kong as listing venues, people familiar with the matter said at the time.