Firmus, an Australian artificial intelligence (AI) data centre operator backed by Nvidia, has called off a stock market listing that would have ranked among the largest ever staged in Australia.
The company attributed the decision to “recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions”, saying a public listing would not be in the best interests of the business or its shareholders.
The float had been expected to value Firmus at more than $30bn (£22.65bn).
An investment firm told the BBC it had chosen not to participate in the initial public offering (IPO) because of concerns about the company’s valuation.
“Firmus will now pursue capital from the private markets and consider alternative public and private market options. We will provide additional information to shareholders as those options progress,” the company said.
What Firmus does
Firmus builds and runs liquid-cooled data centres, which it describes as “AI factories”, for clients including OpenAI and Meta.
Its operations span Australia, Singapore and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
The company counts Nvidia among its backers, alongside investment firms Blackstone and Jane Street. Blackstone declined to comment when approached by the BBC, while Nvidia and Jane Street have also been contacted for comment.
Investors question the price
The withdrawal comes amid wider unease among investors and industry analysts about the hundreds of billions of dollars being directed into AI, with the outlook for long-term returns still uncertain.
UniSuper, one of Australia’s largest pension funds, was among the institutional investors that opted out of the IPO.
“We think that Firmus indeed has a compelling story. It just doesn’t have a compelling valuation,” UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce said in an update to investors.
Pearce also said the fund was concerned Firmus would need to take on further debt to finance its growth plans.
“It’s disappointing. The [Australian Securities Exchange] needs new stories and this could have been one if it was correctly priced,” Pearce told the BBC.
Phillip Wool, chief research officer at Rayliant Investment Research, said a listing of this kind tests how willing companies are to keep “ploughing money” into AI. He said investors in Firmus would be backing a business still in its early stages that is likely to require large borrowing.
“It’s more like a bet on a dream”, he added.
Australia’s data centre appeal
Australia has drawn data centre investment on the strength of its abundant clean energy, natural gas supplies and available land.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said earlier this year that Australia could become a global leader in the data centre industry if it chose to.
The country currently hosts more than 160 data centres, with more planned, despite opposition from some Australians worried about environmental impact and noise.
In September, Altman said OpenAI did not intend to list on the stock market this year, pointing to safety concerns around the technology that make it “an ill-advised moment” to go public.
The ChatGPT maker, along with rival Anthropic, has been weighing blockbuster debuts that would value each company at more than $1tn.
AI-linked stocks Nvidia and Oracle fell in US trading on Thursday following reports that OpenAI’s revenues were lower than previously thought.
By Osmond Chia, business reporter. Published 9 October 2026. Source: BBC Technology.
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