Cincinnati Bell Inc. has announced that it intends to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) of shares of common stock of a company that will be formed to own and operate CyrusOne, Cincinnati Bell’s Data Center business. Cincinnati Bell is assessing its ability to conduct the CyrusOne business as a real estate investment trust to determine whether it can pursue the offering under that structure.
Cincinnati Bell’s objectives from the planned transaction are to execute its growth strategy for the Data Center business, ultimately pay down debt to amounts appropriate for the remaining telecommunications company, and to maximize value for Cincinnati Bell’s shareholders. Cincinnati Bell intends to use a portion of the public offering proceeds to repay indebtedness.