Philippines-based telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. is targeting a listing of its data center assets under a real estate investment trust (REIT) by the fourth quarter, which could raise as much as US$ 400 million, according to local reports recently, quoting its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.
The Vitro REIT initial public offering (IPO) could raise between US$300 million and $400 million from an initial portfolio of eight mature data centers with a combined capacity of 27 megawatts, Pangilinan was quoted to have said at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.
He added that the company opted for a REIT structure because it was better than selling a minority stake in its data center business in which prospective partners such as Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. wanted a controlling stake.
Following the board approval, PLDT will be injecting income-generating data center assets under its subsidiary Vitro Inc. into a REIT structure. Not all of the company’s data centers would be eligible for a REIT, as only assets operational for three years or more could be listed, according to new rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) .
The SEC had in January expanded the category of assets allowed to be owned by REITs to include digital infrastructure such as data centers.
An IPO could help PLDT reduce its net debt, which reached P284.7 billion as of December 2025. About P16.6 billion is due in 2026, with another P27.9 billion maturing in 2027, according to reports.
Following the initial injection of eight data centers, larger assets such as the PLDT’s flagship 50MW Santa Rosa data center, may be added later. Pangilinan estimated Santa Rosa could be valued at US$1 billion once it is stabilized.