Firmus Technologies Pulls $5B IPO as Investors Balk at Valuation
BX is trading near its 52-week low of $101.73 (10% above the low).
Summary
Firmus Technologies, a neocloud data centre operator, withdrew its $5 billion IPO on October 9, the day it was due to publish its prospectus. The company had aimed for A$11 a share, implying a market value of nearly A$44 billion ($31 billion), but prospective shareholders balked at the valuation. Firmus cited 'recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions' and said it would pursue alternative public and private-market options. The withdrawal is a setback for Blackstone, which is a key backer of the company and has been deepening its AI infrastructure bets. This follows Blackstone's recent $35 billion chip financing for Anthropic and its $22 billion chip loan for Crux AI, highlighting the firm's exposure to the AI data centre buildout. The failed listing may pressure Blackstone's ability to monetize its stake and signals cooling investor appetite for richly valued AI infrastructure plays.
At the time of this announcement, BX was trading at $112.00 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $139.9B. The 52-week trading range was $101.73 to $166.39. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Reuters.