Firmus to allocate half of IPO to early backers

• Firmus Technologies plans to allocate roughly half of its upcoming public share offering to existing investors, allowing major backers to expand their stakes.
• The company is aiming to raise up to US$5.5 billion at an offering price of $11 per share.
• The listing will boost Australian capital markets and support future infrastructure expansion.

Data centre operator Firmus plans to allocate about 50% of its initial public offering to existing shareholders.

The company fixed its offer price at $11 per share to yield an implied market valuation of $43.7 billion, which sits below earlier internal target valuations.

The company declined to comment on ongoing deliberations regarding final allocation details.

Firmus aims to raise up to US$5.5 billion, including a green shoe option, and it moved the book-building closing date forward from Friday to Thursday due to strong investor demand.

The share sale ranks among the largest stock market listings in Australian history, rivalled only by the 2014 Medibank (ASX:MPL) float that raised just under US$5 billion.

The transaction provides momentum to the local primary equity market, where total listing proceeds reached just over US$1 billion this year after exceeding US$2 billion in each of the prior two years.