Multi-asset alternative investment firm Bain Capital announced today that it has acquired an 80% stake in sustainability-focused European data center provider AQ Compute from Germany-based private investment company Aquila Group.

The acquisition forms part of a new partnership between Bain and Aquila, with the company’s citing a “significant opportunity to develop AQ Compute into a leading green data center platform for hyperscale and AI customers across Europe.”

Roman Rosslenbroich, Co-founder and CEO of Aquila Group, said:

“Through our partnership with Bain Capital, we are well positioned to expand AQ Compute’s capabilities and solidify its role as a key player in Europe’s digital infrastructure. The rapid growth in data demands presents both a challenge and an opportunity — while more data centers are essential, they must be sustainable.”

The new partnership comes as advancements in AI are driving rapid growth in demand for data centers, and for energy infrastructure to power them. Over the past few months, several major tech companies, such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon, have also highlighted increased energy needs to meet the AI-driven growth in data centers as a key challenge to their decarbonization goals.

Launched by Aquila Group in 2020, AQ Compute provides modular and AI-ready data center and colocation services, primarily powered by clean energy. The company recently launched its first sustainable data center in Oslo, and has additional projects underway in areas including Barcelona and Milan.

According to the companies, the new partnership is targeting multi-billion Euro investment volumes to significantly accelerate AQ Compute’s plans to develop and operate sustainable data centers for hyperscale and AI customers across Europe.

Ali Haroon, a Partner at Bain Capital, said:

“The European data center sector presents an attractive market opportunity, driven by robust cloud demand, a need for high-performance computing and AI deployments, and data sovereignty across the region. Through this partnership with Aquila Group, we bring a differentiated, renewable energy angle to tackle the ever-growing power challenges in this critical part of Europe’s infrastructure.”

Markus Holzer, Chairman of AQ Compute, added:

“At AQ Compute, we are uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for data processing by combining innovative, AI-ready infrastructure with a commitment to sustainability. This partnership with Bain Capital not only accelerates our development pipeline but also allows us to set new standards in sustainable data center operations across Europe.”