Warburg, Macquarie Said to Be Close to Backing China’s Bohao [Private Equity Insights]

Warburg Pincus and Macquarie Asset Management are nearing an investment in Chinese data center firm Bohao Internet Data Services Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter, amid booming investor appetite for digital infrastructure assets.

The US private equity firm and the arm of the Australian financial giant plan to invest about $450m in closely-held Bohao, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The fundraising deal could boost Bohao’s valuation to more than $1 billion, the people said.

Talks are at an advanced stage and an agreement could be reached soon, the people said. The proceeds would help Bohao boost growth in China, they said.

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Representatives for Bohao, Macquarie Asset Management and Warburg Pincus declined to comment.

Bohao, based in Guangzhou, operates high-performance data centers across several cities and regions in China, its website shows. In 2020, it raised about $295m from global institutional investors in a series A financing.

In May, Macquarie’s asset management unit said its third Asia-Pacific regional infrastructure fund had $4.2 billion in investor commitments. The fund’s investments include Bohao and Metcold Supply Networks in China, Summit Energy Alliance Ltd. in South Korea and Bersama Digital Infrastructure in Indonesia. It has also made investments in Australia and New Zealand.

Warburg Pincus has already invested in data center companies in Asia, including closely-held Princeton Digital Group Pte, which operates sites in countries such as China, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Japan.

Source: Yahoo Finance