Asia-Pacific’s ambitious data center rollout has recently encountered significant obstacles that have slowed its momentum. The most notable setback was the withdrawal of Australian firm Firmus from the stock market on Friday, where it had planned an AU$7.1 billion (US$4.97 billion) IPO. This offering was anticipated to be the largest debut on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) since Telstra’s in 1997.
Firmus, a neocloud company backed by major shareholders including Blackstone and Nvidia, decided to pivot from its public listing in favor of seeking AU$3 billion through private funding. Despite adjusting their target share price to enhance attractiveness, investor interest remained low.
Additionally, the trading of one of Firmus’ shareholders, Maas Group, was suspended after its stock plummeted 27% in just two days. Maas Group holds a 3.2% stake in Firmus along with contracts worth AU$727 million ($507 million).
On the heels of Firmus’ troubles, Philippine telecommunications provider PLDT announced a delay of its data center REIT listing until 2027 due to rising interest rates. This REIT, named Vitro, was projected to raise as much as 24.2 billion Philippine pesos (US$385.1 million) on the Manila bourse.
PLDT cited current unfavorable market conditions as a primary reason for postponing the IPO, affirming its commitment to the listing as part of its asset monetization strategy.
Compounding these challenges, Southeast Asian governments have also had to halt various AI-related initiatives. In Indonesia, the West Java province suspended a significant 640MW data center project by BDX, a Singapore-based company, due to a lack of necessary approvals, including an environmental assessment.
Similarly, Thailand recently put a stop to 166 data center projects, with 49 already under construction, awaiting new guidelines to maximize economic benefits from digital infrastructure.
In Malaysia, authorities expressed concerns over the rapidly increasing power consumption from burgeoning data centers. Electricity demand growth attributed to data centers has surged nearly 10%, compared to a previous annual growth rate of 1.5%-2%. This shift has made it challenging for energy costs to be recouped from data center operators who tend to favor short-term contracts.
These developments reflect a challenging environment for data center expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, as companies face both financial and regulatory challenges.
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