Firmus Technologies, an operator of AI-focused data centers, canceled its planned IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange on October 9, 2026. The company withdrew the offering after 48 hours of bookbuilding due to weak investor demand.
The IPO aimed to raise $5 billion at a share price of AUD 11, implying an equity valuation of $30.6 billion. This valuation was three times higher than the $10.5 billion valuation the company received in a private funding round two months prior.
Investors expressed concerns over the company's $30 billion debt load and the reported exit of a key partner, CDC Data Centres, from a major project. Firmus now intends to seek private capital instead of pursuing a public listing.
Founded in 2019 by Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, Firmus operates two data centers in Melbourne and Singapore, with five additional facilities currently under development. The company uses proprietary liquid-cooling systems paired with Nvidia hardware to support AI workloads for clients including OpenAI and Meta.
