2 June 2008 – Forbes website

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – The billionaire Reuben brothers are gearing up for a 1.5 billion pound flotation of Global Switch, the data-centre company, according to The Sunday Times.

The newspaper did not name its source, but said the pair have held preliminary talks with UBS (nyse: UBS – news – people ), Credit Suisse andDeutsche Bank (nyse: DB – news – people ) in the past few months.

The listing could come as early as the second half of this year or the first half of next, depending on the credit crunch. David and Simon Reuben are thought to be weighing up whether to float in London, America or continental Europe, the article added.

The data-centre market is projected to enjoy huge growth in demand, spurred by regulatory requirements that have increased the need for companies to retain more data and back-up IT facilities as part of their disaster-recovery plans.

Global Switch has debts of less than 100 million pounds and a float could raise up to 750 million pounds. The brothers are expected to retain a stake of between 40 per cent and 60 per cent in the business if they proceed with a listing, the newspaper said.

Global Switch has data centres in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Sydney and Singapore covering more than 2.8 million square feet.

In a separate article in The Sunday Telegraph, the Reuben brothers have also emerged as potential bidders for London Southend airport.

The newspaper did not name its source, but said the brothers, along with London City Airport, are two of four parties vying for control of the airport, which has been put up for sale for between 40 million pounds to 50 million pounds.