ASIC Firmus inquiries are underway, but the regulator has not opened a formal investigation into the pulled float. Chris Savundra, ASIC’s head of enforcement, told the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence in Sydney on Tuesday that the agency is doing its usual post-listing checks.
“There isn’t a formal investigation on foot at this point. But we are undertaking inquiries, as I said, in the usual course,” he said.
Chief executive Scott Gregson told the same hearing that ASIC’s role in new listings is limited. It regularly assesses them afterwards, looking for information that was misleading or deceptive. The inquiry was the first time the regulator had been asked directly about Firmus since the company withdrew its ASX application on 9 October.
What the ASIC Firmus inquiries are looking at
Senator Dave Sharma had written to ASIC asking it to examine the float. He pointed to bankers’ claims that there was indicative demand for the raise at $11 a share, and to the previously undisclosed termination of Firmus’s deal with CDC Data Centres. Firmus had priced the offer at $11, implying an equity valuation of about $30.6 billion against $10.5 billion in an August round. The book died between Tuesday morning and Wednesday lunch. The company cited market volatility and said the terms on which the offer could proceed would not reflect the strength of the business.
Some lawyers previously told Capital Brief that a legal case was unlikely to succeed. No retail investors were directly harmed. Prospective buyers had only been told of “indications” of interest, not confirmed demand. The CDC termination was not in the original pitch materials.
Where the company sits now
Firmus is raising privately and has not confirmed a Nasdaq listing. On Wednesday the Australian Financial Review reported that the company had signed its first major customer since the float died: a multi-year agreement with Thinking Machines Lab, the company run by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati. The lab will use Firmus infrastructure in Asia to train and deploy models. The same morning, The Information reported that Nvidia is in talks to invest hundreds of millions in Firmus. Neither figure has been confirmed by the company.
