Firmus scrambles to save Australia's second-biggest share float as investors balk. The ASX falls 0.8%
Firmus, an Nvidia-backed AI data-centre company, is trying to salvage a share float that would be the second largest in Australian history after Telstra in 1997. The ABC reported on Thursday that the float was in doubt as investors got cold feet. The AFR said bankers began price talks on Wednesday after weak overseas demand and were trying to shrink an offer first reported at $7.9 billion. Reuters had earlier reported an $11 price and a raise near $7.1 billion, valuing Firmus near $44 billion. By Thursday several outlets, including the New Zealand Herald, reported the price had been cut to $8.25, with the book closing early and a valuation around $30 billion, and that the float could be pulled. We saw no announcement from the company or the ASX. About 42.4 per cent of stock would be held in escrow. The AFR reported Maas Group's AI contracts of about $1.2 billion were exposed. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 66.8 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 8,660.9, with miners down as Brent rose about 2 per cent near $102.
The float was meant to be the proof that Australian investors will fund the AI build-out. If the price falls by almost a third, it tells investors what the market thinks of the sector, and it hits the contractors and landlords who have tied their plans to Firmus.
If you own an index fund or an industry super fund, you would have held some Firmus through the listing. At the lower price you would own more for the same money. Nothing changes until it lists.
Investors are right to demand a lower price for a company that has built only a small part of its promised capacity and is loss-making.
Cutting the price in a rate-rising market is the market working; the business remains one of the few Australian companies positioned to host large AI workloads.
Watch for an ASX or company notice. The price, the size and the date are all provisional, and Thursday's story rests on press reports and market sources. A withdrawal would be news; a smaller float would be a lesson.
DailyDrop Australia edition No. 4 · Morning · THU., OCT. 8, 2026