Internet and cloud infrastructure firm OVH announced in mid-December that it is working to raise $327 million to rapidly increase its international data center portfolio.
OVH CFO Nicolas Boyer that the money raised during the new round of fundraising will help to finance an investment program of almost $500 million.
"We can then intensify the deployment of our data center and network infrastructures, supporting our customers in the cloud while capturing new markets," said Boyer.
Industry experts have suggested that the fundraising play by OVH, founded in 1999, is the first step toward the company going public. Boyer said that the infusion of cash is enabling OVH to gauge interest from private investors and called an IPO the "next logical step."
OVH operates a network of 17 data centers, the majority of which are in France. The company provides services to its North American customers from three Montreal data centers, but this limits operations to the Midwest and East Coast. An OVH spokesperson said that the company would likely target the West Coast in their new expansion, as well as the Asia Pacific market.
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