LinkedIn Corp.'s (NYSE:LNKD) initial public offering last week inspired talk of a new tech bubble, but one company with aspirations to go public has thus far resisted the temptation of a new stock listing.

Telx Group, a New York data center operator, registered for an IPO 14 months ago, in March 2010. Since then, data center operators such as Interxion Holding NV (NYSE:INXN) and CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE:COR) have sold shares.

Telx's continued absence from the market has elicited speculation that the company may favor a sale.

Telx is backed by GI Partners, a firm that has made a number of investments in the sector. Two of GI's portfolio companies, data center operator SoftLayer Technologies and hosting company The Planet, merged in November 2010. The firm also has a position in Denver data center operator ViaWest Inc. alongside Oak Hill Capital Partners.

While Telx owns data centers in large markets -- such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Miami -- to some potential buyers its lack of a presence in Northern Virginia could be a liability. The gap means no proximity to the Federal government and the Dulles technology corridor.

Nonetheless, if Telx were to go on the block suitors would abound. The best match may be Interxion, a Dutch company with data centers throughout Europe that raised more than $250 million through a January IPO. Last year, Interxion and Telx struck a deal to refer customers and resell each others' services, so management presumably thinks the businesses are compatible.

Telx has similar agreements with Indian carrier Tata Communications Ltd. (NYSE:TCL) and CoreLink Data Centers, an MC Venture Partners portfolio company that owns data centers in Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Seattle.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB) has made acquisitions in the sector, and the geography of its holdings could make for a compelling fit with Telx. The Midwestern telecom bought Texas data center company CyrusOne from Abry Partners LLC for $525 million in 2010, and now has facilities in the Midwest and the Southwest.

Telx is carrier neutral, meaning that it does not own a telecom network. Neutrality is a selling point, because unaffiliated data center owners typically connect to a great number of carriers and do not require customers to purchase services on their own network. Telx says that its facilities connect to as many as 300 service providers.

One source noted that Telx's neutrality and its high number of carrier connections could complicate a sale to a company such as Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), of Redwood City, Calif. Equinix is also carrier neutral. Regulators could scrutinize such a combination because it would eliminate a large neutral operator in a market such as New York. Buyout firms might also be attracted to Telx. Abry has shown an interest in the sector. The firm acquired Canadian data center operator Q9 Networks Inc. for C$361 million ($345 million) in 2008, and Telx would give Q9 a footprint in the U.S. Telx declined to comment on the timing of its IPO, or the possibility of a sale.

While Telx doesn't have the buzz of LinkedIn, social networking is one of the data-consuming trends, along with cloud computing and software-as-a-service, that have put a premium on critical Internet infrastructure. The boom in these services is one reason that there is capital available for data centers, a sector burned in the last bubble. Telx could benefit from that interest, even if it does not constitute another bubble.