Global telecom provider Pacnet Ltd plans to invest about $100 million annually this year and next to expand the number of data centers it operates in Asia, CEO Carl Grivner told Reuters in an interview.

Grivner also said on Monday his focus was to improve the Asia-based company's performance before reconsidering a public listing of its shares either in Asia or the US.

Grivner did not specify how the data center investments would be funded, but said signing Chinese clients was the near-term focus and that some of the investments will be made via joint ventures in China.

Pacnet was formed in January 2008 by the merger of Asia Netcom in Hong Kong and Pacific Internet in Singapore and now owns about 46,420 kilometers of submarine cable infrastructure across Asia and the Pacific Ocean. It has been diversifying into the data center business since 2011.

It now has around 18 data centers in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, which connect via its regional undersea cables.

Pacnet, whose key customers in Hong Kong include the Bank of China Ltd, opened a data center in Chongqing in March with another in Tianjin expected to be in operation next year. It is now hunting in Shanghai for a suitable site and is considering the recently announced free trade zone as a location.

"We'll probably have some capability in Shenzhen very shortly," Grivner added, referring to the city just across the border from Hong Kong.

Pacnet's key shareholders include Ashmore Investment Management, Clearwater Capital Partners and Spinnaker Capital Ltd that own about 90 percent of the company. There had been rumors they were considering selling it before Grivner came onboard. Industry sources said then it had an enterprise value of about $1 billion.

Grivner, who has been Pacnet's CEO since July 2012, said any plans for a listing, were premature as his main focus now was to improve the performance of the company with an aim to grow its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) by around 40 percent to exceed $100 million.