Data center provider AirTrunk is reportedly delaying a planned initial public offering, the latest in a string of firms tied to the industry that have paused or canceled plans for public listings.
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The Australian data center firm had intended to begin testing the waters with investors this month for the $1.5B IPO of its Singapore REIT. Now, Bloomberg reports that AirTrunk is delaying the IPO until next year due to higher interest rates and market volatility holding investor interest below expectations.
AirTrunk operates facilities in Australia, India and across the Asia-Pacific region. It says it has more than 3 gigawatts of operating and planned capacity across 20 hyperscale campuses. The company was acquired by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2024 in a $16B deal.
AirTrunk had previously considered other measures to bolster demand for its Singapore listing, including increasing the offering’s yield from 5.5% to 6%, according to Bloomberg. But U.S. interest rate increases in September continued to erode investor appetite, ultimately prompting AirTrunk to delay the public offering. The company is still weighing potential changes to the size and timing of the planned IPO, Bloomberg reports.
The delay comes as higher interest rates have put pressure on REIT valuations, which are particularly sensitive to changes in borrowing costs and bond yields. It is also the latest in a wave of delayed or canceled IPOs from firms in the data center and artificial intelligence sectors. Close to a dozen firms connected to the data center industry are considering going public in the coming months, but at least five others are pausing or canceling those plans.
Last week, Philippine data center REIT Vitro delayed its proposed IPO to 2027, also citing rising interest rates and market conditions. That followed a decision earlier this month by Nvidia-backed Australian neocloud Firmus Grid to cancel a planned $5B IPO.
Last month, data center developer SB Energy and power infrastructure firms Holtec and Aggreko all reportedly slowed or paused plans to pursue IPOs.
SB Energy — a SoftBank-backed developer of the largest planned U.S. data center campus — delayed its planned September IPO after investors reportedly balked at its proposed valuation north of $50B. Aggreko reportedly slowed down its IPO process due to challenges facing the data center sector, while Holtec postponed its planned Nasdaq listing due, in part, to “uncertainty of data center development.”
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