Firmus Technologies is asking Australian investors to put an A$43.7 billion price tag on its AI data center business in an initial public offering that would rank among the largest in the country's history — and would give public-market investors direct exposure to the infrastructure behind modern AI development.

The AI infrastructure operator has set its IPO share price at A$11 and aims to raise up to A$7.1 billion, or about US$5 billion, on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The listing is slated for around October 22–23, 2026. If completed, it would become the second-largest IPO in Australian history, behind only Telstra's 1997 debut, which marked the start of the privatization of the country's then state-owned telecommunications carrier.

The milestone comes with caveats. Firmus was founded in 2019 and still expects to post a loss ahead of its market debut.

The Numbers Behind the Pitch

The company is targeting an equity valuation of approximately A$43.7 billion. Its enterprise value sits at around A$60 billion once roughly A$30 billion in debt is included.

Ahead of the IPO, Firmus anticipates a loss of A$77 million in the first half of its fiscal year. According to the company, projected earnings from its sites could reach about US$5 billion annually within five years, once those centers are fully operational.

What Firmus Does

Firmus builds and operates what it calls AI "factories" — advanced data centers powered primarily by Nvidia GPUs, the chips used to train and run modern AI models. Demand for that kind of computing capacity has made data center development one of the most competitive corners of the technology industry, with companies worldwide spending heavily to secure capacity for AI workloads.

The company already operates in Australia and Singapore. It is developing additional sites across Indonesia and is eyeing a move into Malaysia.

The customer roster is central to the pitch. Meta and OpenAI are among Firmus's major customers, and its backers are equally high-profile: Nvidia, Blackstone, Coatue, and Jane Street have all invested in the company. Nvidia's involvement runs on two tracks — it supplies the GPUs at the heart of Firmus's facilities and is one of the company's investors.

What This Means for Investors

Questions have already surfaced about the company's growth assumptions, especially the execution risk attached to facilities that are still unbuilt.

The sizable debt load compounds that pressure: with roughly A$30 billion in borrowings baked into the enterprise value, there is limited room for error.

Customer concentration adds another layer of risk. A meaningful portion of the investment case rests on how Meta and OpenAI continue to spend on computing capacity.

Heading into the late-October listing, investors will be watching demand for shares at the A$11 offer price, whether the full A$7.1 billion is raised, and any new detail on construction timelines for sites that remain unfinished — timelines that underpin the company's projection of roughly US$5 billion in annual earnings within five years.