CBRE serves as exclusive financial advisor to Aquila Group on the capitalisation and sale of majority ownership of AQ Compute to Bain Capital

Deal is a continuation of Aquila Group's launch four years ago of AQ Compute, a vehicle aimed at investing multi-billion-euro volumes in the Data Centre market in Europe.

Platform aims to lead the development of the sector in Tier 2 cities across Europe, outside the FLAPD markets.

CBRE’s Investment Banking group acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Aquila Group on its capitalisation and sale of majority ownership of AQ Compute to Bain Capital. As the majority shareholder of the platform, Bain Capital will invest, together with Aquila, a multi-billion euro amount throughout the venture.

The deal follows Aquila Group’s launch of AQ Compute four years ago. The European vehicle aims to develop a multi-billion-euro strategy in the Data Centre segment in Europe, with a strong focus on sustainability.

The platform, now with Bain Capital as the majority shareholder, plans to spearhead the development of the Data Centre sector in Tier 2 cities across Europe, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, Oslo, or Vienna - outside the FLAPD markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin - and following the highest standards of quality and sustainability.

Through its pan-European strategy in the Data Centre market and in anticipation of increased demand for computing capacity, the platform includes one asset in Oslo, which began commercial operation in February 2024, and a second one in Barcelona, with a 50MW IT load, currently under development.

Enrique Martínez Laguna, Executive Managing Director, CBRE Spain: “The success of this capitalisation operation can be traced back to the origin of the platform, whereby CBRE supported the strategic alliance to lead the Data Centre segment in Europe, under the highest standards of sustainability and quality. The scale of the platform will help to drive the development of the sector, especially in Tier 2 markets across Europe, which are set to lead the next wave of Data Centre growth, driven by the transition to the cloud, but above all by artificial intelligence.”

Pablo Callejo, Managing Director & Head of Investment Banking, OPRE, Europe of CBRE: “This significant deal gives continuity to the operation that we originally carried out for the launch of the investment vehicle two years ago. Furthermore, it demonstrates the ability and expertise of CBRE in international deals of scale, solidifying our position as a key player in the growth of the Data Centre market at a European Level.”

Opportunity and role of secondary markets in the development of Data Centres

According to CBRE, in view of the energy and land shortages in the FLAPD markets (London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin), attractive opportunities have arisen in other European markets, such as Spain, where Madrid and Barcelona stand out. Other European Tier 2 cities include Milan, Zurich, Berlin, Oslo and Vienna. Tier 2 cities have outpaced the growth of FLAPD markets in the post-2020 period, due to increased capacity demand and saturation in these markets.