Bewertungen: Börsengang von australischer KI-Firma Firmus abgesagt

Australien's Firmus Grid has canceled one of the country's largest initial public offerings (IPOs), signaling a shift in investor sentiment towards AI companies. Nvidia-backed Firmus Grid was unable to convince international investors amid growing caution due to high AI valuations. The cancellation marks a dramatic turnaround for the company, which just a few days ago had signaled strong demand for its IPO, formerly valued at $30 billion ($26.7 billion).

Less than three months prior, the valuation was $10.5 billion. The failure highlights investor resistance to financing conditions in the AI sector, which some argue have become too generous. At the same time, global financing costs are rising, while the long-term returns of AI remain uncertain.

Firmus Grid, whose business model relies on a steady flow of new capital, will withdraw its application for listing on the Australian Securities Exchange and explore other funding options. The decision, confirmed by a Friday statement, came after the board deemed that the conditions under which the offering could be made did not adequately reflect the strength of the business and its long-term growth prospects.

The IPO faced difficulties even shortly after opening to institutional investors this week, with investors expressing conflicting assessments. Some believed Firmus Grid was well-positioned to benefit from the AI boom, while others worried about the valuation and the risk of existing shareholders swamping the market with shares shortly after the IPO.

Additionally, convincing potential investors of a strong growth trajectory without a proven track record in business operations, such as achieving $51 million in revenue in the 2026 fiscal year, proved challenging.

Firmus Grid planned to expand its operations, including a Greenshoe option up to $5.5 billion, but now must find alternative financing routes to pursue its ambitious expansion plans. The company intends to build data centers using Nvidia's hardware, which it refers to as "AI factories." According to Bloomberg-sourced investor documents, the project pipeline consists of 912 megawatts, of which only 46 MW have been constructed so far.

"Investors simply weren't willing to pay a sky-high price for capacities that are largely on paper," said Josh Gilbert, senior analyst for APAC and the Middle East at eToro. "The timing also didn't help: higher returns are driving up financing costs and reducing the amount investors are willing to pay for returns that will materialize only years later."

Firmus Grid plans to raise capital from private markets and explore alternative options on both public and private markets. In the longer term, the company may also consider a potential listing on a U.S. exchange, according to people familiar with the matter. Many AI companies are searching for a suitable window for their initial public offerings, while investors await what may be the mega-IPO of the frontier AI lab Anthropic, which some people familiar with the matter believe could occur as early as November.