Cincinnati Bell's data center unit files for IPO, REIT status

* Names Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch lead underwriters

* To list under symbol 'CONE'

Aug 8 (Reuters) - CyrusOne Inc, owned by telecom services company Cincinnati Bell Inc, filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering, and the data center operator said it intends to structure itself as a real estate investment trust.

Cincinnati Bell had said in May it would spin off its data center unit and was exploring the possibility of conducting the business as a REIT.

Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and Barclays are underwriting the offering, CyrusOne said in a preliminary prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Carrollton, Texas-based company said it intends to list its common stock under the symbol 'CONE.'

CyrusOne did not disclose the number of shares it would offer or the exchange on which it would list.

Companies with large real estate assets eye a REIT structure as it helps reduce tax burden on their rental income. Shareholders also stand to gain as REITs are required to distribute at least 90 percent of their profit as dividends.

Document storage operator Iron Mountain Inc and datacenter operator Equinix Inc are some of the companies that are seriously planning a REIT conversion.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.