Firmus Seeks A$7.1 Billion IPO With Most of Its Data-Center Pipeline Unbuilt

Public investors could soon be asked to value Firmus at about A$43.7 billion, although most of its data-center development pipeline remains unbuilt. The Australian AI infrastructure company is preparing an initial public offering to raise about A$7.1 billion, with an October 23, 2026 listing planned if the deal proceeds. Nine reported the proposed terms, citing a term sheet reviewed by the Australian Financial Review and Reuters.

The shares are priced at A$11 each. At the targeted size, the offering would be Australia’s second-largest IPO, behind Telstra’s 1997 share sale. That ranking describes the money sought through the offering; the A$43.7 billion figure is the implied market value of Firmus’s shares. Neither figure represents a completed transaction.

Demand appears substantial before formal bidding. Nine, citing Reuters, said indicative investor orders already exceeded the offer’s size. Firmus could raise another A$720 million through an over-allotment option if demand is strong enough. Those preliminary orders signal interest, but the reported timetable still makes the stock-market debut conditional on the offering going ahead.

Two operating facilities, five more in development

Firmus builds and operates data centers that supply computing power for AI systems. Its two operating facilities are in Melbourne and Singapore. Another five projects are in development across the Asia-Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Nine names Meta and OpenAI among its customers; Nvidia is both an investor and a hardware supplier, according to the Guardian.

The proposed valuation follows a sharp rise in the company’s private-market price. Firmus raised A$2.8 billion in equity in August at a post-money valuation above A$15 billion, Nine reported. The Guardian places its valuation just under A$2 billion a year earlier. The IPO would attach a much higher value while much of the planned infrastructure is still awaiting completion.

The financial pitch combines near-term losses with a much larger future earnings target. Investor materials described by Nine and a draft prospectus cited by the Guardian contain three distinct measures. They should not be read as interchangeable: operating revenue is not after-tax profit, and the annual earnings target depends on the development pipeline progressing.

• Operating revenue: investor materials forecast A$330 million in the first half of the current financial year, compared with about A$72 million across the entire previous year.
• After-tax result: the company is forecast to lose about A$111 million during that half as it spends on facilities and computing equipment.
• Future earnings: the draft prospectus forecasts A$5 billion annually once the development pipeline advances. That is a projection, not earnings already generated.

An unnamed investment manager who reviewed the draft prospectus told the Guardian that the business would need continuing debt or equity funding and questioned the earnings forecast. Firmus declined the newspaper’s questions about the feasibility of its forecast and valuation. That leaves a central investment question unresolved: whether the buildout can deliver the earnings used to support the proposed price.

The question retail might have to ask is, are they basically the liquidity exit strategy for some of the early investors?

Rob Talevski, chief executive of Webull Securities Australia, speaking to the Guardian

Who can sell after the listing?

The Guardian reports that Firmus is offering a small free float: founders and early investors would initially retain most of the shares. A limited supply of tradable stock can push the price higher through scarcity, the newspaper explains. That creates a separate issue from construction or customer demand—how the share price behaves when existing investors begin selling.

Major backers such as Blackstone have no escrow arrangements restricting sales, leaving them free to sell immediately after listing, according to the Guardian. The founders can begin selling some holdings as early as six months after the debut if the stock price rallies. Permission to sell is not evidence that those shareholders will sell, but their restrictions differ materially.