Brookfield-Backed AI Data Center Developer 5C Eyes IPO

The head of Hypertec Group Inc. says data center developer 5C Group may go public as it ramps up its project pipeline.

Montreal-based 5C builds and operates large-scale artificial intelligence data center campuses in North America. The firm formed when Hypertec Cloud spun out of Hypertec Group and acquired 5C Data Centers in 2025.

“Realistically, the growth trajectory we’ve seen makes it so we’re absolutely considering an IPO,” Hypertec Chief Executive Officer Simon Ahdoot said at the Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York. “That’s something that I expect will be in further discussions after we close the current round of financing.”

Since 2025, 5C has secured more than $1.4 billion in funding, including equity financing led by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and debt financing led by Deutsche Bank AG. Hypertec remains the largest shareholder.

“The next piece is going to raise an incremental $5 billion or $6 billion in a combination of debt and equity,” Ahdoot said.

The firm has a project roadmap of 1,500 megawatts in compute and data center capacity — about 110 megawatts of capacity are already in operation. It is developing large-scale data center campuses in Springfield, Ohio, Memphis and Phoenix.

“With leveraging the partnerships that we have with them, 5C is able to build less expensive and more quickly than the market can in general,” Ahdoot said.

But there are hurdles. “Hiring the right people, hiring the right skill sets is a challenge,” he added. “I think a big reason for that is the turnover in technology is driving a particular challenge there.”

Hypertec Group was founded in the 1980s. It designs and manufactures high-performance computers and server racks, and offers data center solutions.

Earlier this year, the company’s unit Ciara Technologies became Nvidia Corp.’s first original equipment manufacturer partner to manufacture its systems in Canada.

“They are the biggest name in any question of AI infrastructure,” Ahdoot said. “So having their confidence and trusting us to be an OEM partner for them is a very strong recognition of what we can contribute to the story within Hypertec.”