Correction - Updated version 2 - Firmus investor Maas shares fall after an AI data center operator withdrew its high-profile IPO plan

路透社2026/10/09 07:56

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Correction: The IPO valuation in the first paragraph should be $5 billion, not 5 billion AUD. Maas shares once fell by 10.7%, hitting a five-month low. Firmus withdrew its listing application citing market volatility. Maas holds a 3.2% stake in Firmus and supplies equipment for its AI factory project. The subsidiary holds Firmus orders worth AUD 1.1 billion until fiscal year 2027. Kumar Tanishk/Rajasik Mukherjee, Reuters, October 9—On Friday, after Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia (NVDA.O), cancelled its $5 billion initial public offering (IPO) plan, shares of Maas Group’s (MGH.AX) closed down more than 6%. This raised concerns in the market about the value of its stake in the data center operator and the risks to its existing contracts. The cancellation deprived Maas of a potential market valuation and liquidity route for its 3.2% Firmus equity; it also shifted investors’ focus to JLE Group—an electrical infrastructure division of this Australian construction services provider. “The real risk is correlation. If Firmus faces financing issues, both MGH’s investment and JLE’s order volume could come under pressure,” said Hersh Oberoi, Global Head of Research at Balfour Capital Group. After trading was paused pending updates on Firmus’s IPO and related contracts, Maas shares resumed trading, dropping as much as 10.7% to a five-month low. Oberoi commented that the share price repricing was generally reasonable, since investors lost a potential upside in valuation rather than incurring actual cash losses. He added that the stake’s value should be benchmarked to its last private fundraising round, with adjustments for lack of liquidity. Firmus withdrew its listing application on Friday, citing market volatility and current conditions that “do not fairly reflect our business strength and long-term growth prospects.” JLE is set to deliver modular “Power Cubes” and related electrical engineering under orders valued around AUD 1.1 billion ($768.13 million) for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Maas noted it has received AUD 373 million in payments, and expects completion before the end of 2027. IPO Withdrawal Triggers MAAS Share Revaluation A report on Thursday that Firmus was reconsidering the offer led Maas shares to slump 22.4%. The stock has fallen 32% over the past week, erasing nearly AUD 788 million in market capitalization. Firmus had previously planned to price its shares at AUD 11 apiece, valuing the equity at about AUD 30.6 billion—nearly three times its AUD 10.5 billion valuation in the August funding round. The withdrawn IPO would have been Australia’s second largest ever, underscoring investor caution toward highly valued, aggressively expanding, and capital-intensive AI infrastructure firms. ($1 = 1.4320 AUD)

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