Chinese data center company GDS Holdings is holding an IPO to raise billions of dollars from shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).

GDS is hoping to raise $1.8bn by selling 160 million Class A ordinary shares at around $11 each.

Only a portion of the shares will be sold at the IPO to Hong Kong investors while the rest will be available internationally. The IPO initially comprises 8 million shares and 152 million shares are allocated for an international offering.

GDS
– GDS

Sharing is caring

If there is demand, the shares up for grabs at the Hong Kong IPO could be adjusted from 8 million to 32 million, around 20 percent of the total number of shares available. The local share offering is expected to close next Tuesday and trading will begin on November 2.

GDS’s American depositary shares (ADS), each representing eight Class A ordinary shares will be listed and traded on the Nasdaq - these comprise the other 152 million shares. Investors in GDS’s HKEX IPO will only purchase Class A ordinary shares and not ADS.

The proceeds from the IPO will go mostly towards expanding its data centers and R&D related to data center design, construction, and operations.

JPMorgan, Bank of America, China International Capital Corporation, Haitong International are sponsors for the IPO.

Back in June, GDS raised $505m by selling shares to its investors Hillhouse Capital and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. Through a private placement, the shares were part of a newly issued set of Class A ordinary shares at $65 per share.