A digital infrastructure provider backed by Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings is considering raising as much as US$1 billion in a funding round before its potential initial public offering (IPO), according to people with knowledge of the matter.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has held talks with potential advisers on the fundraising as it is keen to bring in strategic investors, the sources said. The funding round would help set a valuation benchmark for an IPO, which could happen as soon as next year, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.

Deliberations are preliminary and details of the funding round could still change, they said. A representative for Temasek declined to comment.

STT GDC is constantly exploring all options to optimise its capital structure, including attracting strategic and financial investors, bond offerings, pre-IPO funding rounds or even a potential IPO, its representative said in response to a Bloomberg News query, declining to comment on the details.

The company has been exploring an IPO that could raise more than US$1 billion, with Singapore and the US among possible listing venues, Bloomberg News reported in January.

STT GDC is one of Asia’s largest data centre operators, managing more than 170 facilities in Singapore, India, China, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and the UK, its website shows.

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Temasek fully owns Singapore Technologies Telemedia, the parent of STT GDC.

Macquarie Asset Management bought a 40 per cent stake in STT GDC’s European unit Virtus Data Centres for an undisclosed amount, according to a press release in January. BLOOMBERG