Asia’s Data Center Pipeline Stalls as a $5 Billion IPO Pulls and Governments Pause Projects

The sharpest setback came on Friday, when Australian neocloud Firmus withdrew its AU$7.1 billion (US$4.97 billion) listing application on the ASX, a debut that had been billed as the country’s largest since Telstra listed in 1997. Firmus had already offered to cut its target price from around AU$11 a share and investors would still not follow, so it now says it will raise up to US$3 billion privately. Its shareholder register includes Blackstone, Jane Street and Nvidia.

Trading in Maas Group, which holds a 3.2 per cent stake in Firmus and contracts worth AU$727 million, was halted after the stock fell 27 per cent over two days. Two days before the withdrawal, CDC Data Centers ended its joint AI infrastructure project with Firmus after the partnership grew uncomfortable with its partner’s expansion into Southeast Asia.

The Philippines added a second data point. PLDT postponed the listing of its data center REIT, Vitro, on the Philippine Stock Exchange until 2027, citing higher interest rates; the REIT had been expected to raise as much as 24.2 billion pesos (US$385.1 million). The country’s central bank raised rates by 25 basis points last month and is widely expected to lift them twice more before the year ends.

The regulatory brakes are tightening as well. Indonesia’s West Java province halted a 640MW project by Singapore-based BDX over missing approvals, including an environmental assessment, and Thailand suspended 166 data center projects, 49 of them under construction and 117 awaiting approval, while committees draft new industry rules.

In Malaysia, Energy Commission head Siti Safinah Salleh has said electricity demand growth climbed from about 2 per cent a year to nearly 10 per cent because of data centers.