Demand for AI data centers fuels IPO boom: Switch files confidentially for U.S. IPO, valuation possibly approaching $50 billion

According to Bloomberg, data center company Switch Inc. has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., becoming one of the data center firms seeking to go public amid the recent boom in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment. Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Switch plans to list as early as November this year, and is currently working with investment banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley to advance the offering. The company is targeting an enterprise valuation (including debt) of nearly $50 billion after going public. Additionally, Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), will join Switch’s board of directors. Switch was previously preparing for a new round of funding led by a16z, and may seek a valuation of nearly $50 billion. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Switch operates data centers in Nevada, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, and other regions. The company is currently controlled by DigitalBridge, which in 2022 acquired Switch for approximately $11 billion including debt alongside other investors. The IPO filing comes as the capitalization of the AI data center industry accelerates. So far this year, multiple data center operators and related equipment and service companies have raised funds through U.S. IPOs. The market believes that as demand for AI model training and inference continues to grow, computing power infrastructure is emerging as a new hot spot drawing capital market attention.