GDS Holdings Ltd is seeking as much as US$1 billion in investment in its unit that operates its data centres outside of China, people familiar with the matter said, building on a well-received fundraising just a few months ago.

GDS is working with an adviser to gauge interest from global investors to help Singapore-based GDS International expand its operations in Southeast Asia, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private subject. 

GDS, which is listed in Hong Kong and New York, would be left with a significant minority stake in the business if the plan goes ahead, the people said. 

Deliberations are ongoing and details such as the amount to be raised could change, the people said. 

Representatives for GDS didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

GDS already raised several hundred million dollars this year for its non-China operations by selling a stake in GDS International to a group of alternative asset managers, including Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Investment and Princeville Capital. The initial US$587 million Series A funding round was later raised to US$672 million, amounting to a stake of about 47.3% for the investors. 

GDS International was established in 2022 and is headquartered in Singapore. It has 330 megawatts (MW) of data centre capacity in service and under construction, with another 340MW for development in places including Hong Kong, Singapore, Johor in Malaysia, and Batam in Indonesia, its website shows.

GDS reported a net loss of 345 million yuan (US$47.7 million) for the first quarter of this year, narrowing from a deficit of 475 million yuan a year earlier. Net revenue rose 9.1% from the same quarter in 2023 to 2.6 billion yuan. GDS’ shares have risen almost 20% in Hong Kong this year, giving the Shanghai-based company a market value of HK$16.8 billion (US$2.2 billion). 

  - Bloomberg