CoreSite to Debut This Week

by David Gross

DLR is near its 52 week high, DFT is barely 10% off of its annual peak, and it looks like they will be getting a peer this week, as CoreSite prepares to becomes the 3rd publicly traded data center REIT.   Like the other REITs, CoreSite is planning to list on NYSE, and is expected to trade under the ticker "COR".

According to the S-11 CoreSite filed last week, the company is planning to offer 16.9 million shares, and raise approximately $246 million.   Like most REITs and co-lo providers, the company's portfolio skews heavily to major markets, with the Boston, NY, SF, DC, and LA metro areas accounting for 98% of its annualized rent.   This emphasis on a handful of top regions is one reason why data center geographical markets cannot be treated like office markets, although this is not stopping old school real estate firms from trying to force fit data centers into vacancy models better suited for commercial offices.

Co-location provider Telx, whose S-1 is beginning to show signs of age, has yet to price its shares in preparation for a public offering, though it would be surprising if it remained on the sidelines much longer, particularly with its peer Equinix (EQIX) up 20% since July.