TLDR
AI data centre operator Firmus will open its institutional bookbuild on 6 October 2026, targeting a $7 billion ASX listing that would rank second only to Telstra's 1997 float. The offer rises to $7.5 billion if the overallotment option is exercised, backed by a US$10 billion Blackstone debt facility and 900 MW of contracted capacity anchored by OpenAI.
Timetable, size and market context
The institutional bookbuild for Firmus Technologies opens on 6 October 2026 and closes the following day, with the prospectus lodged on 8 October, a retail offer running 12 to 19 October, and shares set to begin trading on the ASX on 22 October.[1] The retail window runs to seven days, which is tight by any measure and leaves little margin if the market moves against the deal in the interim.
The offer targets A$7 billion, rising to A$7.5 billion if the overallotment option is exercised, which would make it the second-largest IPO in Australian history, behind only Telstra's A$14 billion share sale in 1997.[1] Telstra's 1997 float remains the generational reference point for the Australian equity market, and the gap between the two figures reflects how long the market has waited for a technology infrastructure listing at anything approaching that scale.
Capacity, customers and geography
Contracted capacity has surpassed 900 MW across seven AI factories spanning Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, with two sites operational and five under development, anchored by a multi-year agreement with OpenAI.[4] The four-country spread reduces single-market regulatory exposure, though it distributes the execution risk of building five facilities simultaneously across four distinct permitting and grid-connection regimes.
Firmus was founded in 2019 by Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield and Jonathan Levee, and has pursued a modular, immersion-cooled design intended to cut the power overhead that conventional air-cooled facilities carry.[6] Revenue concentration in a single anchor customer, OpenAI, will be among the first questions institutional allocators put to management during the bookbuild.
Blackstone, Coatue and NVIDIA on the balance sheet
Firmus secured a US$10 billion debt financing facility led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, Blackstone Credit and Insurance, and affiliated funds, announced in February 2026.[2] Two months later, Coatue led a US$505 million strategic equity raise with participation from NVIDIA, giving the chipmaker a direct stake in the infrastructure running its own hardware.[3]
Oliver Curtis, co-founder and co-CEO of Firmus, said of the equity raise: "This investment reinforces Australia's role in global AI infrastructure while accelerating our Asia-Pacific growth strategy."[3] Robert Yin, general partner and head of AI infrastructure at Coatue, said: "AI demand is accelerating faster than the infrastructure required to support it. Firmus is closing that gap with an energy-efficient AI Factory model purpose-built for next-generation compute at a global scale."[3]
Debt load, power supply and demand concentration
The US$10 billion debt facility is the figure that will dominate risk discussions in the bookbuild room. Data centre development at gigawatt scale carries long construction lead times, uncertain grid connection approvals, and the ever-present possibility that AI model architectures shift in ways that alter the compute density customers actually need, all of which can test a balance sheet of this construction through a single refinancing cycle.
Firmus signed a 12-year wholesale energy supply agreement with commodity trader Gunvor for 600 MW of firm electricity, underpinning 1.2 GW of new renewable generation and 1.5 GWh of battery storage in South Australia by 2032, including up to 220 hours of demand response annually.[5] The 12-year tenor provides bankable certainty for lenders, though it commits the company to a supply arrangement that will outlast at least two full technology generations, with the retail offer closing 19 October ahead of first trading on 22 October.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- Firmus books October 6 for Australia's biggest listing since Telstra
- Firmus secures US$10 billion financing led by Blackstone and Coatue
- Firmus raises US$505 million in strategic equity investment led by Coatue
- Firmus surpasses 900 MW contracted capacity, adds OpenAI as anchor customer
- Firmus secures 600 MW energy supply agreement in South Australia
- Firmus IPO October timetable ASX
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When will Firmus shares start trading on the ASX?
How large is the Firmus IPO and how does it compare to past Australian floats?
Who are the major financial backers of Firmus?
What is Firmus's contracted capacity and who is its anchor customer?
Elias Thorne writes about interest rates, the bond market and the Reserve Bank. He is interested in what monetary policy actually does to household budgets, and in the long stretches of economic history that tend to repeat.
