(Source: DayOne Data Centers)

Singapore-based DayOne, a data center builder and operator, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The IPO filing comes as the operator continues to expand its footprint across Asia-Pacific, including with a new 200MW facility planned for Kyushu, Japan.

The company filed to list its American Depositary Shares (ADS), representing ordinary shares, on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol DODC.

"The number of ADSs to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined," DayOne said.

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities and Citigroup will act as underwriters of the IPO.

Although the data center operator did not disclose the size of the IPO, Reuters reported in February that the company was seeking to raise up to $5 billion at a valuation of $20 billion.

The proposed IPO comes 21 months after DayOne (formerly GDS International) was spun off from its parent company, the China-based GDS Holdings, in January 2025. GDS Holdings still holds a minority stake in the rebranded company.

Since its inception in 2022, DayOne has raised over $6 billion in equity financing (including a $4.5 billion Series C round) from leading investors such as Coatue Management, Hillhouse, SoftBank Vision Fund, Indonesia Investment Authority, Achi Capital and Baupost Group.

Financing from private and public markets is expected to support DayOne's accelerated expansion, including new data center projects, in its existing territories.

Rapid expansion

To date, DayOne has secured approximately 2.3GW of bookings across ten markets in Asia-Pacific and Europe, including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. This reflects the growing demand for hyperscale data centers tailored to AI and cloud computing workloads.

DayOne defines these bookings as the total IT power capacity committed by clients under legally binding long-term customer contracts. These bookings are primarily driven by seven global hyperscale and leading technology customers, with a heavy concentration in Johor, Malaysia, which accounts for about 1.4GW of the total.

Meanwhile, the company unveiled plans to develop a new 200MW data center campus in Imari City, Saga Prefecture. Situated on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, the campus will be developed in phases on a 133,000-square-meter site within the Imari East Industrial Park, with support from Saga Prefecture and Imari City.

The development includes 160MW of secured powered land, with the first phase expected to begin operations in 2030.

"By adding capacity outside of Japan's largest metropolitan data center clusters, the campus can help distribute critical infrastructure capacity across a broader range of locations," DayOne said.

Although DayOne's business is growing rapidly amid the global AI infrastructure boom, the company remains unprofitable due to significant expansion costs. For the six months ending June 30, the company recorded a net loss of $81.9 million on revenue of $512 million.

Growing scrutiny

DayOne is one of a growing number of data center operators choosing to raise capital through an IPO to fund the construction of massive, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects.

However, industry experts have noted a growing level of investor scrutiny and skepticism, due to the substantial capital requirements, severe power constraints and heavy reliance on a single AI client.

"The dividing line is whether demand is contracted and already energized, or only planned," said Ke Yan, head of research at Singapore-based investment research firm Shenton Research, as quoted by Reuters.

Yan observed that data center operators with diversified customers and clear demand visibility remain attractive to investors, and that companies eyeing IPOs must act swiftly to leverage existing investor interest, given the challenging market environment and intensified scrutiny of their AI infrastructure.