Look Out Below

They come down from Down Under, where two huge IPOs for data center firms just collapsed.

Thankfully, Chuck Jones already came up with the appropriate metaphor for this moment. 

Just a few months ago, companies connected to the AI business couldn’t go public fast enough, as far as investors were concerned. Suddenly, the IPO waters are looking a lot less inviting.

Rising interest rates, a jumpy stock market and heightened political uncertainty are creating a dicey outlook for tech companies that had been aiming for a fourth-quarter public offering, causing some to reconsider their timing.

………

The latest signs of cooling interest came when two Australian data-center companies, Airtrunk and Firmus Grid, pumped their brakes on their public offerings within the span of a few days.

Firmus cited “recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions” in canceling what would have been the country’s largest IPO in 30 years, with a planned raise of almost $5 billion. The company, which has a close relationship with Nvidia and is backed by Coatue and Blackstone, plans to raise funds privately and go public on a U.S. exchange next year, a person familiar with the matter said.

Airtrunk, which was preparing to list in Singapore, now hopes to go public in the first half of next year, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company, which is also backed by Blackstone, was concerned about market volatility and interest rates.

Nothing to worry about.  I'm sure that the masters of tech and finance have got this.