Blue Owl Capital is preparing to form a real estate investment trust (REIT) centered on data-center properties and to take that vehicle public, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm expects to populate the REIT with about $6.5 billion of data-center assets currently held within its portfolios.
Those individuals said Blue Owl’s plan calls for an initial public offering to establish the publicly traded REIT and for subsequent sales of shares to finance acquisitions and expand the portfolio. The people declined to be identified because details of the strategy remain private.
Blue Owl already holds multiple data-center assets and recently closed a digital infrastructure fund that collected $7 billion in commitments in May. Insiders emphasized that the initiative is still under discussion and that the ultimate structure of the REIT and the public offering could change as planning continues.
Activity in the data-center IPO market has been robust as demand for artificial intelligence-related infrastructure grows. Several data-center companies with backing from large investment managers have entered public markets in recent months. One example raised $2 billion when it listed in May as a blind-pool vehicle, allowing investors to buy shares before the REIT disclosed the specific assets it planned to acquire. Another firm backed by a major alternative manager generated $1.2 billion in a July listing.
People familiar with Blue Owl’s proposal said the new vehicle would resemble the blind-pool format used by others but would begin life with initial assets already in place as a foundation for future deals. The presence of seed assets distinguishes it from a pure blind-pool approach, while preserving flexibility to use proceeds from public-market sales to pursue further acquisitions.
A spokesperson for Blue Owl declined to comment on the reported plans.
As described by the people briefed on the matter, key elements of the plan - the exact mix of assets to be transferred, the timing of any offering, and the final capital-raising mechanics - remain subject to ongoing discussion. That leaves the REIT’s ultimate size and composition open until formal filings and disclosures are made public.
The reported initiative would add another sizable, manager-backed entrant to a wave of digital-infrastructure public listings that have raised multibillion-dollar sums this year.