Firmus Technologies was seeking to cash in on the market mania for all things related to artificial intelligence with a $7 billion equity raising that valued the data centre operator at a whopping $44 billion - ahead of all but 15 major companies on the local bourse.
But on Friday, Firmus pulled its application to list on the ASX after its lead bankers couldn't find enough institutions willing to invest.
"The board determined that the terms on which the offer could proceed would not appropriately reflect the strength of the company's business and long-term growth outlook," it said.
Firmus now plans to pursue capital from private markets while considering alternative public and private market options.
The failed float was unfortunate, WeBull Australia chief executive Rob Talevski said.
"We never want to see a deal scuttled like that," he told AAP.
Australia had a quality capital market, but Firmus' float had many red flags and its leadership and bankers collectively had to shoulder some responsibility, Mr Talevski said.
But that doesn't mean their vision for where AI is going was wrong.
"We just need to see some better execution," Mr Talevski said.
"If you're asking investors to back you, it can't just simply be an idea or a potential pipeline.
"There needs to be some concrete revenue, some concrete business behind it - I think that's what's undone Firmus in this case."
Firmus only has two operational data centres, in Melbourne and Singapore.
It has plans to issue $US30 billion ($A43 billion) in debt to build many more, which it would then lease back to its tech titan customers, including Meta and OpenAI.
However, Firmus' plans to build two data centres in Tasmania have run into significant community opposition.
"Investors just weren't prepared to pay a sky-high price up front for capacity that's still largely on the drawing board," eToro lead APAC analyst Josh Gilbert said.
Big customer names such as OpenAI and Meta were exciting, but whoever headed to the ASX next would need to show how much of that customer demand was locked in under signed contracts before asking investors to hand over the cheque, Mr Gilbert said.
Greg Canavan, the founder and portfolio manager of Canavan Capital Partners, also pointed out that Firmus was trying to raise funds publicly at a valuation nearly triple that from a private fundraising round just two months ago.
"No one should be surprised," he said on social media.
"Team Firmus have no one to blame but themselves."
The criminal conviction of one of Firmus' co-founders may have also scared off some US institutional investors.
Oliver Curtis was convicted of insider trading in a highly publicised 2016 trial and served 12 months in prison out of his two-year sentence.
The husband of Sydney socialite Roxy Jacenko, Mr Curtis founded Firmus in 2019 alongside his cousin Tim Rosenfield and brother-in-law Jonathan Levee as a Bitcoin mining firm.
Like several other Bitcoin mining companies, including Sydney-headquartered, Nasdaq-listed IREN, Firmus found that its facilities could be repurposed as data centres to service the billion-dollar AI buildout.
Mr Curtis holds a 13.3 per cent stake in Firmus, with its other investors including Nvidia, global private equity giant Blackstone and local backers Regal Partners and Wilson Asset Management.
Shares in a Dubbo, NSW-based diversified industrial group that owns a 3.2 per cent stake in Firmus were placed in a trading halt on Friday after plunging by more than 20 per cent to a more than two-month low of $4.96 on Thursday amid concerns about the Firmus deal.
Maas Group, founded by retired NRL player Wes Maas, is also a significant supplier to Firmus.
Its subsidiary, JLE Group, has $1.1 billion in work orders from the company, with $373 million in payments received.
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