Brookfield-Backed Csquare Files Confidentially for AI-Fueled US IPO

Csquare, a Brookfield-backed data center operator formed through a series of distressed asset acquisitions and telecom carve-outs, has taken the first step toward a U.S. public listing as demand for AI-ready infrastructure reshapes the sector.

The Dallas-based company said Friday it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. SEC for an initial public offering. The number of shares and price range have not yet been determined, and the timing of the listing will depend on market conditions and regulatory review.

Csquare said it plans to use part of the proceeds to repay outstanding debt, with the remainder earmarked for general corporate purposes, signaling a potential balance sheet cleanup ahead of further expansion.

The filing comes as data center operators increasingly tap public markets to fund capital-intensive buildouts driven by AI workloads, which require higher power densities and more advanced cooling systems than traditional enterprise IT deployments.

Csquare’s current platform was assembled by Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, overseeing more than $900 billion in assets across infrastructure, real estate, renewable power, private equity and credit. Csqure was created by merging Evoque — a portfolio of colocation assets originally acquired from AT&T in 2019 — with select data centers from Cyxtera Technologies, which Brookfield acquired out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023.

That transaction allowed Brookfield to “cherry-pick” profitable facilities while shifting the combined platform toward greater ownership of underlying real estate. Led by Chief Executive Spencer Mullee, a veteran data center operator who previously sold Asia-Pacific-focused DCI Data Centers to Brookfield, Csquare has focused on stabilizing and integrating the combined assets.

The IPO filing follows a period of expansion. In October, Csquare announced the acquisition of 10 data centers across the U.S. and Canada in a $1 billion transaction funded with cash on hand, bringing its total portfolio to around 80 facilities. The sites span key metropolitan areas, including Boston, Dallas, Toronto and Montreal, and are aimed at serving both enterprise and emerging AI workloads.

While hyperscale cloud providers have dominated recent data center investment headlines, Csquare has positioned itself toward enterprise colocation, typically serving customers with 1 to 5 megawatts of demand. The company has begun to layer in AI-related deployments, particularly for enterprises building smaller-scale AI labs rather than large hyperscale clusters.