Nvidia-backed AI data centre firm scraps mega stock market listing
Firmus said it had made the decision due to "recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions"
Nvidia-backed AI data centre firm abandons mega stock market listing
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centre company Firmus has dropped plans for what would have been one of Australia's biggest-ever stock market listings.
The Nvidia-backed company said it had taken the decision because of "recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions", adding that going public would not be in the best interests of the company or its shareholders.
Firmus had originally unveiled plans for a stock market debut that would have valued the company at more than $30bn (£22.65bn).
One investment firm told the BBC it had chosen not to participate in the initial public offering (IPO) because of concerns about the 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.
Firmus builds and runs liquid-cooled data centres, which it describes as "AI factories", for customers including OpenAI and Meta.
It operates in Australia, Singapore and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
The company's investors include Nvidia and major investment firms Blackstone and Jane Street.
Blackstone declined to comment when approached by the BBC.
Nvidia and Jane Street have also been contacted for comment.
Firmus's decision to scrap its stock market listing comes as investors and industry analysts have voiced concerns about the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in AI while the outlook for long-term returns remains uncertain.
UniSuper, one of Australia's biggest pension funds, was among the institutional investors that decided not to take part in the IPO.
"We think that Firmus indeed has a compelling story. It just doesn't have a compelling valuation," UniSuper's chief investment officer John Pearce said in an update to investors.
He also said UniSuper was worried that Firmus would need to take on more 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.
In September, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said his company did not plan to list on the stock market this year, citing concerns over the technology's safety that make it "an ill-advised moment" to go public.
The ChatGPT-maker, along with rival Anthropic, have been considering blockbuster stock market debuts that would value the firms at more than $1tn each.
AI-related stocks Nvidia and Oracle fell in US trading on Thursday after reports that OpenAI's revenues were lower than previously thought.