Australian data centre operator Firmus has priced its shares at A$11.00 each as it aims to raise A$7.1 billion (about US$4.94 billion) from its initial public offering, according to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.
The pricing gives the AI infrastructure company an equity valuation of about US$30.6 billion, or A$43.7 billion in local currency. With roughly US$30 billion of debt estimated by the banks working on the deal, Firmus's enterprise value sits near US$60 billion.
Firmus declined to comment on the IPO pricing on Thursday, the report said.
A landmark Australian listing
The offering would be the second-largest IPO in Australian history, behind only Telstra's US$10 billion share sale in 1997, the term sheet showed. Globally, the raise would rank as the fourth-largest IPO so far this year, behind SpaceX, CXMT Corp and Cerebras Systems, according to Dealogic data.
Institutional bookbuilding is due to begin on Tuesday and close on Friday — Australian IPOs typically set the price first, before official bookbuilding following roadshows with investors.
Indicative orders from potential investors are already above the size of the deal, and the company could raise an extra US$500 million through an over-allotment option, known as a green shoe. The stock is expected to start trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on October 23.
Betting on the AI factory boom
Firmus builds what it calls AI "factories" — advanced data centres powered mainly by Nvidia GPUs, the chips that train and run modern AI models. It currently operates two data centres in Australia and Singapore, with five more under development across Asia-Pacific and additional sites planned in Indonesia, while eyeing a move into Malaysia.
The company already counts Meta and OpenAI among its major customers. Its backers are equally heavyweight: in August, Firmus raised US$2 billion in equity from a group including Nvidia, Blackstone, Coatue and Jane Street, taking its post-money valuation above US$10.5 billion.
The IPO funds would support a major rollout of AI factory capacity across Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Big valuation, big losses — for now
The price tag is a bold ask for a company founded in 2019 that still expects to post a loss. Firmus anticipates a A$77 million loss in the first half of its fiscal year, with most of its planned data-centre pipeline still unbuilt.
The company projects earnings from its sites could reach about US$5 billion annually within five years once the centres are fully operational.
Investors will be watching whether that growth story justifies one of the biggest bets ever placed on the AI infrastructure buildout — and whether October's debut delivers the momentum the order book is already signalling.
