NTT DATA Group Corporation announced the listing of its real estate investment trust, NTT DC REIT yesterday on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), according to a press release published on its website. NTT said through this REIT, it will expand its data center business and maximize corporate value. “We aim to accelerate the capital recovery cycle of data center investments and generate new investment capital, thereby continuing proactive investment and driving further growth of our data center business,” it said.
NTT added that with the rapid rise of cloud services and the emergence of generative AI, the importance of data centers is increasing at an accelerating pace. As the world’s third largest global data center provider (excluding China as per its statement), NTT DATA has approximately 1,500 megawatts (MW) of data center capacity as at the end of March 2025.
NTT DC REIT primarily invests in data center assets owned and operated by NTT DATA. It has a footprint of over 2,200 MW of IT power in operation and under construction, and a portfolio of 133 buildings across 91 data center sites across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific, according to SGX website.
The REIT currently comprises six carrier-neutral, Tier III or Tier III-equivalent freehold assets spread across the United States (Northern Virginia and Northern California), Austria (Vienna) and Singapore, with an optimal mix of hyperscale and colocation customer contracts. The portfolio has an Appraised Value of approximately US$ 1.6 billion as at 31 December 2024, with a design IT load of approximately 90.7 megawatts, as per SGX. The REIT is sponsored by NTT Limited, a consolidated subsidiary of the company.
The other pure data centre-focused REITs in Asia are Keppel DC REIT and Digital Core REIT which are also listed on the Singapore Exchange.
Meanwhile, local press Channel News Asia reported yesterday that the REIT which is considered Singapore’s largest initial public offering (IPO) since 2017 saw a muted debut with its price closing at its offer price of US$1 per share by the end of the trading day after rising to a high of US$1.03 during trading hours. Expectations were high that the price would trend higher as it was oversubscribed by 4.6 times overall while the public offer was 9.8 times oversubscribed.
Analysts contacted mostly attributed its tepid performance to the SGX being a matured capital market thus exhibiting “mature investor behaviour such as measured response rather than exuberance”. Some suggested it could also be due to tariff tensions and business uncertainty as a result. Investors are also pricing in “execution risk” given that the portfolio of NTT DC REIT spans three continents. Higher interest rates could also have added pressure on the REIT’s valuation. According to SGX, the REIT has an estimated market capital of US$1.03 billion.
Yutaka Torigoe, chief executive officer of the manager of NTT DC REIT, reportedly said he was encouraged by the “excellent debut” and believed it underscores confidence in the quality of the REIT’s portfolio, its growth prospects and the outlook for data centres globally. The REIT is backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and NTT Group.
Overall, the market viewed the listing favourably noting that it may encourage other technology and infrastructure companies to view Singapore as a viable regional listing venue. An analyst projected a broad base of potential REIT IPOs on the horizon, including data centre, industrial, logistics, hospitality, commercial and retail assets that could raise between S$ 600 million to around S$ 1 billion.
