Firmus Seeks $5bn in Australian Float after Doubling Valuation to $10.5bn
Firmus is seeking up to $5 billion in its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), according to Bloomberg, making it one of the largest floats the exchange has handled. In April, the figure was estimated at $2 billion, with a valuation of $5.5 billion. By August, the company’s valuation had reached $10.5 billion.
Investor meetings commenced in mid-September, followed by Australian roadshows. Pricing, listing date, and free float details have not been announced yet.
The five months between April and August proved exceptionally productive for Firmus:
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OpenAI (openai on 164news.com) signed a multi-year compute contract across two Malaysian sites last week, securing Firmus as the anchor customer and expanding its contracted capacity to over 900MW.
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In June, Firmus committed to a 360MW site in Batam, Indonesia, with access to up to 170,000 Nvidia accelerators through 2028, generating projected offtake of $25 billion to $30 billion over its first six years.
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The company is building in a region targeting four times the current data centre capacity, with Malaysia leading this pipeline at 6GW.
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Project Southgate is Firmus’ flagship initiative: 1.6 gigawatts across five Australian locations by 2028, with an initial build cost of $4.5 billion against a total programme estimated at $73.3 billion. A $10 billion debt facility led by Blackstone in February finances the early stages.
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Two of Firmus’ seven AI factories are already operational. The remaining projects, ranging from signed offtake agreements to announced plans, highlight the challenges data centre developers often face in translating commitments into delivered megawatts.
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Australia’s regulatory environment has also made this crossing more challenging for Firmus, as since July, AI data centres there have been required to disclose excess power generation rather than simply buying from the grid. Firmus markets its liquid-cooled design as using one-third less energy and almost no water, positioning them well to adhere to these new rules.
Founded in 2019 with headquarters in Singapore, Firmus initially focused on Bitcoin mining. Current backers include Nvidia and Blackstone. The upcoming roadshow aims to validate whether the $10.5 billion valuation is based on 900MW of contracts or on the two sites currently drawing power.
Story by Cristian Dina, CRO at The Next Web.