Full Breakdown
Firmus IPO Withdrawal Highlights Investor Skepticism Over AI Data-Centre Valuations
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Firmus Pulls ASX IPO
Firmus Grid Ltd. announced on Friday that it was withdrawing its application to list on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company had been seeking to raise roughly USD 5 billion (about A$ 44 billion market capitalisation) by offering shares at A$ 11 each. The pull-back follows a week in which the price was considered for reduction before the offer was abandoned.
Background & Context
Founded in 2019 in Tasmania by Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield and Jonathan Levee as a Bitcoin miner, Firmus pivoted to high-performance computing and, after a 2021 partnership with Nvidia, began building “AI factories” – purpose-built data centres that own Nvidia GPUs and sell compute capacity. Major investors include Nvidia (7.2 %), Blackstone (6.7 %), Coatue Management (8.4 %) and Curtis himself (13 %). The ASX has few pure-AI listings, while most comparable companies such as CoreWeave have floated on Nasdaq.
Data & Statistics
- Operational capacity: 46 MW built; 865 MW under development; 3.2 GW planned across Australia, Tasmania, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Chip inventory: 170,000 Nvidia AI chips secured for the Indonesian facility.
- Revenue: A$ 50 million reported for the prior year; contracted revenue runs into the billions but will be realised only as facilities become operational.
- Funding needs: Expansion projected to require tens of billions in debt, with US 10-year bond yields above 5 % adding cost pressure.
Official Statements & Responses
John Pearce, chief investment officer at UniSuper, argued that the proposed valuation “was difficult to justify” because “so much has to go right to justify the valuation.”
Criticism & Opposition
Industry analysts warned that Firmus lacked a proven track record. Ben Squires, CIO at NGS Super, described Firmus as “such an unknown quantity” with financing and contractual risks.
Impact on Partners
The IPO collapse sent Maas Group shares tumbling 22 % on the day of the withdrawal, later falling to a six-month low of A$ 4.11 and erasing roughly A$ 517 million in market value. Its JLE Group subsidiary holds A$ 1.1 billion of electrical-infrastructure contracts with Firmus, of which only A$ 373 million has been paid. Analysts now expect the rollout timetable to be impacted and note that Maas’s revenue outlook is tightly linked to Firmus’s ability to secure private funding.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the exact valuation target: Forbes cited A$ 44 billion, International Finance reported a USD 30 billion valuation, and Bloomberg referenced USD 30.4 billion. The amount of capital sought also varies between USD 5 billion and USD 5.5 billion. Details of the proposed private-fundraising structure remain undisclosed, and the timeline for any Nasdaq listing is unspecified.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We back the management team to deliver because they have so far,” — Oscar Oberg, Wilson Asset Management
- “So much has to go right to justify the valuation,” — John Pearce, UniSuper
What’s Next
Firmus is in talks with existing investors about a private financing round of USD 2-3 billion, with the mix of equity and debt still to be decided. The company has not confirmed whether Nvidia will participate. Parallel to the private raise, Firmus is evaluating a potential Nasdaq listing, a path already mentioned by its CFO. The outcome will determine whether the firm can fund its multi-gigawatt build-out and sustain contracts with hyperscalers such as OpenAI and Meta.