Antin Infrastructure Partners and EQT are set to do battle for data center operator NorthC, it has been reported.

The duo’s initial proposals have qualified them for a second round of bidding for control of NorthC, which is currently owned by Frankfurt-based investor DWS.

According to a report from Bloomberg, final offers will need to be submitted to Deutsche Bank, which is handling the sale, by mid-December. NorthC could fetch up to €2 billion ($2.31bn), it is hoped.

News that NorthC could be up for sale surfaced last month. The company was formed in 2019 from the merger of Dutch data center firms TDCG and NLDC, originally a subsidiary of Dutch telecoms company KPN.

In recent years, it has been expanding across Europe, buying Netrics in Switzerland and the IP Exchange in Germany. It recently acquired several facilities across the Netherlands and Germany from Colt Technology Services.

NorthC has more than a dozen data centers across the Netherlands, eight in Germany, and four in Switzerland, with more in development in all three markets.

France-based Antin, EQT, which is headquartered in Sweden, and NorthC itself all declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg.