MANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. is postponing the P24.2-billion listing of its data center arm, blaming rising interest rates and the worsening economic health for its decision to defer.
In a disclosure before the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), PLDT said it has suspended its plan of listing VITRO Inc. as a real estate investment trust (REIT).
VITRO, PLDT’s data center builder, was eyeing to file an initial public offering (IPO) this year to raise up to P24.2 billion.
The IPO would have marked the country’s first listing for a data center operator. VITRO plans to use the proceeds to put up more data centers and settle debts.
However, PLDT said it had to postpone the IPO to 2027 to observe how economic factors would develop.
The country’s largest telco is worried that if the listing pushes through this year, it would be hounded by economic risks and rate hikes.
Still, PLDT informed the PSE that it is still committed to listing VITRO, as the unit is becoming one of the telco’s most important assets.
“PLDT remains committed to the proposed VITRO REIT IPO as an important part of the group’s asset monetization and deleveraging plan, while supporting expansion of the REIT portfolio and continued growth of the group’s data center business,” PLDT said.
“In light of current market conditions and rising interest rates, VITRO REIT has decided to defer the IPO to 2027,” the telco confirmed.
VITRO is the country’s biggest data center developer. In its plan to go public, VITRO will start with a portfolio of eight projects, combining for a capacity of about 24 megawatts.
However, VITRO’s infrastructure bench is deep, with VITRO Sta. Rosa, scalable up to 50 MW, yet to be included on the portfolio.
VITRO is also planning to build a P40-billion data center in General Trias, Cavite, designed for 100-MW operations.
VITRO’s entry into the PSE will mark the first digital infrastructure REIT in the Philippines, and it is expected to encourage more tech firms to go public.
Still, VITRO’s path to listing is faced with multiple risks, from growing public pushback against data centers, to higher electricity costs due to the Middle East conflict.