DayOne, the Singapore-headquartered data center operator formerly known as GDS International, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering on Nasdaq. The company intends to list American Depositary Shares under the ticker symbol DODC on the Global Select Market.

The filing arrives 21 months after DayOne was spun off from its China-based parent GDS Holdings in January 2025. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities and Citigroup will underwrite the transaction.

The operator has not disclosed the offering size, but Reuters reported in February that DayOne is targeting up to $5 billion at a $20 billion valuation. Proceeds would finance expansion across the operator's existing footprint.

What does DayOne bring to public markets?

Since its 2022 inception, DayOne has raised more than $6 billion in private equity. That total includes a $4.5 billion Series C round backed by Coatue Management, Hillhouse, SoftBank Vision Fund, Indonesia Investment Authority, Achi Capital and Baupost Group.

The company reports approximately 2.3GW of bookings, which it defines as IT power capacity committed under long-term customer contracts. Seven global hyperscale and technology customers drive the volume, with about 1.4GW concentrated in Johor, Malaysia.

Six anchor markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan — host DayOne's Asia-Pacific facilities. Additional sites in Europe bring the total market count to ten.

What is the $5 billion funding?

A 200MW data center campus in Imari City, Saga Prefecture, represents DayOne's latest build. The Kyushu project sits on a 133,000-square-meter site inside the Imari East Industrial Park and will be developed in phases with Saga Prefecture and Imari City support.

The campus includes 160MW of secured powered land. DayOne expects the first phase to commence 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 stated in the filing.

Is profitability in sight?

Not yet. For the six months ending June 30, DayOne recorded revenue of $512 million against a net loss of $81.9 million. The deficit reflects heavy capital expenditure tied to multi-hundred-megawatt campuses.

The company joins a growing roster of data center operators tapping public markets to fund AI-driven infrastructure. Reuters quoted Ke Yan, head of research at Singapore-based Shenton Research, on the current investor mood.

"The dividing line is whether demand is contracted and already energized, or only planned," Yan said. Operators with diversified customers and visible contracted demand remain attractive to investors, Yan added, while companies eyeing listings must move quickly to leverage existing interest.

DayOne's 1.4GW Johor concentration — roughly 60% of total bookings — counts as contracted and energized demand. The figure also highlights single-market exposure that investors increasingly scrutinize.

What happens next?

The public filing starts an SEC review clock. Nasdaq listing typically follows within three to six months of submission, depending on regulatory clearance and market conditions. DayOne has not named a target listing date.

GDS Holdings retains a minority stake in the rebranded entity following the 2025 spin-off. How the parent unwinds that position during or after the IPO will shape DayOne's next capital structure phase.

The operator plans to channel offering proceeds into further capacity across its ten existing markets, prioritizing AI and cloud computing workloads from hyperscale tenants.