Key facts
- Brookfield-backed Csquare was valued at $3.24 billion in its NYSE debut.
- The company's shares fell 0.5% on their first day of trading.
- Csquare priced its IPO at $21 per share, below the expected range of $23 to $27.
- The IPO raised $1.05 billion by selling 50 million shares.
- Csquare operates over 80 data centers across North America and Europe.
Brookfield-backed data center provider Csquare debuted on the New York Stock Exchange with its shares falling 0.5% to $20.9, valuing the company at $3.24 billion. The company had priced its initial public offering at $21 per share, below its marketed range of $23 to $27, raising $1.05 billion by selling 50 million shares. This debut highlights investor caution towards new listings, even those in the AI-driven data center sector, as valuations and pricing are under scrutiny.
Founded in 2019, Csquare operates and owns data centers across North America and Europe, offering space, power, and connectivity services to enterprise customers, cloud providers, and telecommunications companies. The company was assembled by Brookfield Infrastructure from the assets of Cyxtera, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2023. Brookfield acquired Cyxtera's assets for $775 million and combined them with Evoque Data Center Solutions, a business formed in 2019 from AT&T's colocation portfolio, rebranding the combined entity as Csquare in April 2024.
Csquare operates over 80 data centers across 30 markets, encompassing 3.5 million square feet of space and over 500 megawatts of power capacity, serving more than 2,000 clients. Proceeds from the IPO are intended for debt repayment and general corporate purposes, indicating a deleveraging effort. The market backdrop for colocation is favorable, with record low vacancy rates and significant demand driven by AI workloads, pushing tenants toward higher-density configurations. However, risks include customer concentration, particularly with hyperscale clients, which can impact lease renewal negotiations.