Chinese data center operator Chindata to go private in $3.16 billion deal
(Reuters) -Chindata Group said on Friday it would go private in a sweetened $3.16 billion deal with investor Bain Capital, ending months of uncertainty over the future of the Chinese data center operator that also received interest from China Merchants Group.
The all-cash offer from Bain Capital, Chindata's largest investor with 87% of voting power and 42% of outstanding shares, values each American depository share of the company at $8.60.
That is a 7.5% increase from the private equity firm's proposal in June. It also marks a premium of about 43% to the closing price of Chindata shares before the initial approach was made public.
U.S.-listed shares of Chindata, which operates data centers in China, India and Southeast Asia, rose 3% after the bell.
Data centers operators have enjoyed a surge in demand in recent years as more businesses take to the web. They also stand to benefit from this year's rise of artificial intelligence services such as ChatGPT, which require massive computing power.
Bain Capital, which took Chindata public on the Nasdaq in September 2020, said earlier this year it will not sell any of its shares in the company after it received a bid from China Merchants Capital for $3.4 billion.
The go-private deal announced on Friday will be funded through a combination of cash and debt financing provided by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Chindata said. It is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2023 or early next year.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
