Firmus Technologies withdrew its planned Australian IPO on 9 October after investor demand fell short, ending a listing with an anticipated $44bn valuation that would have been the ASX’s biggest debut since Telstra in 1997, The Guardian reported.
Key points
- The offer price of A$11 a share implied a valuation of A$43.7 billion ($30.4 billion).
- Firmus had sought $5.5 billion, including a greenshoe option, to help fund its data centre plans.
- The board has decided to pursue private capital and consider other public and private market options.
- Shares in Firmus backer Maas Group Holdings fell as much as 30% as the listing came into doubt.
A$11 offer sought $5.5 billion
Firmus’s proposed A$11-a-share offer would have valued the company at A$43.7 billion ($30.4 billion), Investing.com reported. The company was seeking $5.5 billion, including a greenshoe option. That fundraising plan ended with the withdrawal of the offer.
Orders for the IPO closed as scheduled on 8 October, but there was no clear indication of its final price or structure at that point, Investing.com reported. Firmus had moved the bookbuilding deadline forward from 9 October after demand initially exceeded the size of the offer. Some prospective investors later grew wary that existing shareholders might sell soon after the listing, according to the report.
The listing would also have put a company still building out its operations before public-market investors. The Guardian described Firmus as having two small operational sites. Seeking Alpha reported that it operated seven AI factories across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Firmus began as a Bitcoin mining operation in Tasmania in 2019, according to Seeking Alpha. It has since turned to AI data centres. Ahead of the planned IPO, AI Affairs reported that Firmus expected a $77 million half-year loss.
Maas shares fall as Firmus float falters
Maas Group Holdings, a Firmus backer, fell as much as 30% in Sydney as investors questioned whether the IPO would proceed, Investing.com reported. Maas said it was aware of market commentary but knew of no undisclosed information that explained the move in its shares.
Seeking Alpha reported on 8 October that Firmus was expected to delay the IPO and was discussing a private funding round with existing and other investors. Deliberations were continuing at the time of that report. Firmus subsequently withdrew the offer, according to The Guardian.
A Firmus spokesperson said the board had concluded that proceeding with the offer was “no longer in the best interests of the company and its shareholders”, The Guardian reported. The decision leaves the company to seek funding for its planned liquid-cooled AI data centres through another route.
Firmus turns to private-market capital
“Firmus will now pursue capital from the private markets and consider alternative public and private market options,” the spokesperson said. The company had secured $2 billion in commitments from investors including Nvidia and Blackstone. Jane Street was also an existing shareholder, while Coatue Management led a $505 million funding round in April.
The proposed IPO proceeds had been earmarked for GPUs at Firmus’s first data centre in Batam, Indonesia. Firmus is developing that site with DayOne Data Centers under an eight-year partnership with Nvidia.
