One of Australia’s biggest-ever stock market debuts is taking shape. Data centre operator Firmus has set its price and is pressing ahead with a listing that tests investor appetite for the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence.
The numbers
Firmus Grid has priced its initial public offering at A$11 a share, targeting at least US$5 billion this month. The price implies a valuation of about A$43.7 billion (US$30.3 billion), short of earlier expectations of as much as A$50 billion.
The company has shown strong early demand. It has brought forward the close of its bookbuild from Friday to Thursday after indications came in well above the offer size. The stock is expected to start trading on the ASX on October 23. Until then there is no market price, so A$11 remains a valuation on paper
Who is buying
The register carries a notable twist. About half of the shares will go to existing shareholders, putting Nvidia and Blackstone in a position to increase their stakes. Nvidia already owns roughly 7.2% of the company, Coatue about 8.4% and Blackstone about 6.7%.
Some market observers argue this makes the deal look more like a top-up round for insiders than a broad public float. Supporters counter that backing from such investors signals confidence in the business.
Where the money goes
Proceeds are earmarked for hardware. The funds will pay for graphics processing units at Firmus’s first data centre project, in Batam, Indonesia, being developed with DayOne Data Centers under an eight-year partnership with Nvidia. The wider plan calls for 170,000 Nvidia GPUs at the campus.
The company has travelled a long road to get here. Firmus began in 2019 as a bitcoin mining business in Tasmania and has been shifting towards AI data centre infrastructure. It secured US$2 billion in commitments from investors including Jane Street, Blackstone and Nvidia in August, after a US$505 million round led by Coatue in April.
How it compares
The scale stands out in Australia. Dealogic data cited by Reuters ranks the deal as the second-largest IPO in Australian history and the fourth-largest globally this year. It is on par with Medibank’s 2014 offering, which raised just under US$5 billion. It also arrives after a quiet stretch for local listings, with proceeds this year just over US$1 billion, after more than US$2 billion in each of the previous two years.
On valuation, the price equates to roughly 13 times forecast EBIT for the 2028 financial year. That forecast assumes all planned sites are running, so execution matters. Building and powering data centres is capital-hungry, and the company depends on a steady supply of advanced chips.
The ripple effects
Smaller listed companies with exposure to Firmus are already feeling the lift. Macquarie estimates MAAS Group’s 3.2% stake is worth about A$1.4 billion at the IPO price, and has raised its target price on the stock by 21%.
What to watch
The next few days will show how much of the offer remains for public and institutional buyers once insiders take their share. Investors will also look for fresh detail on customers, contracted capacity and power supply, which determine whether forecast earnings can be met.
The listing also fits a wider pattern. Capital is flowing towards firms that supply computing power, from chipmakers to the companies that house their hardware. Firmus gives Australian investors a rare direct way into that trade, with the usual caveat that sentiment can turn quickly.
The first day of trading on October 23 will be the real test of whether the market agrees with the price.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
