Private equity funds are being lined up to back a $1 billion funding round for Singaporean data center operator STT Global Data Centers (STT GDC).

The funding round is thought to be a precursor to the digital infrastructure business, which is backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, going public via an initial public offering (IPO).

According to Bloomberg, several private equity funds have been selected to make binding bids to join the funding round. These include Apollo, Blackstone, and Stonepeak Partners, while a consortium of KKR and Singapore Telecommunications has also been invited to make an offer.

Bids must be submitted by early April, according to the report, which cites people familiar with the discussions. DCD has contacted STT for comment.

STT GDC is currently wholly owned by Temasek, which controls its parent company, Singapore Technologies Telemedia.

News of a potential IPO for the business first surfaced last January, when it was reported that it was investigating the potential for a public listing valuing the business at $5bn. The US and Singapore were touted as potential locations for the IPO.

Then in May, it emerged that STT GDC was looking to raise funds ahead of the listing to help set a benchmark valuation for the business, and this plan now appears to be progressing.

The company is one of the largest data center operators in the world, with a portfolio of more than 170 facilities in nine countries - Singapore, the United Kingdom (through a subsidiary, Virtus), India, China (through GDS), Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines.

In November, DCD reported that it had entered a joint venture with another provider, Basis Bay, to open two new data centers in Malaysia. The two buildings will offer IT capacity of 20MW, with the first building set to come online this year.