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Digital Infra

Hscale locks in $1B hyperscaler contract for Spain

Bain-backed Hscale pre-sells Spanish capacity to an unnamed hyperscaler, leaving 2027 as the moment a $1 billion contract must become an operating asset.

Hscale, Bain Capital’s EMEA data center platform, has sold more than $1 billion of Spanish data center capacity to an unnamed hyperscaler, for a building it has not identified. The hyperscaler will run cloud and AI workloads on the space, and the agreement can be extended to other Hscale data centers across the region. The capacity arrives in 2027.

The deal attaches to a pipeline that is still mostly a plan. Hscale is developing BCN1 in Barcelona with planned capacity of 50 MW and MAD1 near Madrid with 192 MW, while its only operating data center remains in Oslo. Two more Nordic sites are under development, alongside projects in Milan and work in London, Frankfurt, and Zaragoza.

Paul Berry-Selwood, Hscale’s chief commercial officer, called the deal “a powerful endorsement of Hscale’s strategy and our ability to deliver complex, high-capacity infrastructure for the world’s most demanding cloud customers.” Bain created Hscale in 2025 after buying 80 percent of Aquila Group’s data center business, AQ Compute, in 2023; Aquila holds the remaining 20 percent, and the platform is led by Oliver Schiebel, formerly CEO of Mainova Webhouse.

The contract turns a largely unbuilt Spanish pipeline into contracted cash flow, the difference between hyperscaler-anchored infrastructure and merchant development. The hard part is delivery. Hscale’s only live asset remains in Oslo, while everything else is planned, under development, or awaiting a final investment decision. By 2027, a $1 billion announcement either becomes an operating asset or begins testing the patience that data center timelines are known for.

Sources & further reading
Data Center Dynamics
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