Vantage Data Centers, a significant hyperscale developer and operator, is considering options such as an IPO or sale as early as next year, as AI-driven demand drives dealmaking and raises data center prices.
Vantage, supported by infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group and private equity company Silver Lake, might raise approximately $10 billion and pursue a stock market offering at a valuation of nearly $100 billion, making it the largest data center IPO to date; the corporation might also take a share sale into consideration.
The corporation has met informally with financial consultants and undertaken preliminary discussions regarding potential exit routes in recent weeks.
No official process has been started; discussions are still in their early stages, and any plans—including the timing, structure, and magnitude of a possible transaction—remain subject to change. In the end, Vantage may choose not to pursue a deal.
The conversations take place at a time when data center operators have raised billions of dollars from investors seeking exposure to the exponential expansion of computing capacity required to support artificial intelligence.
Technology businesses and other strategic purchasers seeking to secure capacity for AI workloads are increasingly drawn to data center owners.
Since late 2023, Vantage has raised about $11 billion, including $9.2 billion in stock sponsored by Silver Lake and DigitalBridge. There was no disclosure of the valuation based on those raisings.
Vantage has joined forces with Oracle and OpenAI on a data center complex in Wisconsin that is connected to Stargate, a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle to construct AI data center infrastructure worth up to $500 billion and 10 gigawatts.
Public listings in the data center industry are also on the rise. CyrusOne is getting ready for a possible IPO as early as 2027, while data center operator Switch engaged banks for an IPO that could raise $10 billion and value the business at roughly $80 billion.
