At a glance
Firmus is due to start trading on the ASX on 23 October after pricing a A$7.1 billion float, the second largest on the ASX after Telstra in 1997.
A working map of Australia's data centre industry places Firmus among 86 companies in nine layers, from the AI labs buying capacity to the banks advising on deals.
The operator layer holds 16 names, from AirTrunk, CDC and NEXTDC to newer developers such as Zerra DC in Queensland's Western Downs.
Gunvor, the commodity trader, sits among ten energy and grid organisations after signing a 600MW power supply deal with Firmus in South Australia.
Several of the 86 have campuses still to switch on, including IREN at Bundey in South Australia, where energisation starts from 2028.
Firmus has priced its ASX float at A$11 a share to raise A$7.1 billion, valuing it at about A$44 billion, with trading due to start on 23 October. Reuters, citing Dealogic, put it as the second-largest float on the ASX after Telstra's 1997 share sale. The companies around Firmus sit in different layers of the same industry: Blackstone and Coatue provided a US$10 billion loan in February, NVIDIA is an investor and customer, Gunvor has agreed to supply 600MW of power in South Australia, and CDC hosts its Melbourne hall, where Firmus runs NVIDIA GB300 chips for Meta.
NVIDIA's AI Made in AU map, shown in Melbourne on 10 September, named 75 organisations in eight layers. The map below takes in the wider chain, including the builders, equipment makers, investors and advisers behind the sites. It places 86 companies in nine layers, each included for at least one reported Australian role: a site, a lease, a supply contract, an ownership stake or a deal. The selection draws on announcements, filings and press reports to 7 October 2026 and is not exhaustive, so companies with smaller or undisclosed Australian roles are likely to be missing.
Six cloud providers and AI labs are buying capacity
AWS has committed A$20 billion to Australian data centres to 2029, and Microsoft won approval for a 96MW data centre at Huntingwood in Western Sydney. Google Cloud and Oracle run cloud regions here.
OpenAI is the initial offtaker at NEXTDC's S7 campus, with the option to scale over time. Anthropic signed its first Australian lease at the Western Downs Digital Park in September.
Seven neoclouds are selling or building GPU capacity
The seven neocloud providers in Australia on the map sell, or plan to sell, AI computing power in Australia, and their publicly named customers are tracked in the Australian AI compute customer register. IREN holds a connection agreement for an 800MW campus at Bundey in South Australia.
Sharon AI runs its GPUs inside NEXTDC, and ResetData, half owned by Centuria, runs inside a Centuria office tower in Melbourne's Docklands. SCX.ai listed on the ASX on 21 August and runs SambaNova chips at Equinix SY5. Perth's DUG holds a lease and state funding for a high-performance computing campus at Geraldton, and WinDC has ordered 11MW of Armada modular units.
Sixteen operators and developers run or are building the halls
Firmus runs its Melbourne hall inside CDC, one of 16 operators and developers on the map. The layer holds many of the largest names behind data centres in Australia: AirTrunk, CDC, NEXTDC, Equinix, Digital Realty, DigiCo, Macquarie Data Centres, STACK, DCI Data Centers, Polaris, Leading Edge and iseek.
Three are earlier in the build. GreenSquareDC, bought by Partners Group, is developing in Perth and Sydney. Zerra DC is developing the Western Downs Digital Park near Dalby. Telstra InfraCo, Telstra's infrastructure arm, has announced plans for a 62MW data centre at Minchinbury in Western Sydney with Starwood Capital and Doma. Armada, a US maker of modular data centres, is on the map through its WinDC deployment.
Twelve chip, server and network suppliers equip and connect the halls
NVIDIA, a Firmus investor and customer, has outlined up to 2GW of Australian AI capacity by 2027 with eight local partners, to be built as AI data centres. AMD's MI355X chips were installed by HPE in the University of Queensland's Bunya supercomputer at Polaris. Lenovo built Sharon AI's 1,000-GPU cluster in Melbourne, and Cisco and NVIDIA supplied a separate Secure AI Factory for Sharon AI in Sydney.
Between sites, Nokia is supplying the network backbone for ResetData's AI factories and Vocus plans an A$500 million Sydney to Melbourne fibre route, due in service in 2029.
Five power and cooling suppliers equip the plant rooms
Schneider Electric has worked on Leading Edge's regional sites, Vertiv and ABB have supplied NEXTDC, Cummins supplies generators to Digital Realty, and Baltimore Aircoil makes cooling equipment. Vertiv's cooling units are also on NVIDIA's DSX Ready list of approved equipment for AI factories.
Eight engineering and construction firms deliver the sites
A W Edwards, part of Bouygues Construction, holds the expanded A$1.9 billion contract for AirTrunk's SYD3 campus. Multiplex is building NEXTDC's S4, Hickory partnered with STACK on its entry to Melbourne and BESIX Watpac is building Microsoft's Garden Drive data centre in Melbourne. Erilyan has built for Equinix at SY5 in Sydney, Kapitol Group is a data centre builder on NVIDIA's AI Made in AU map, and Arup and Aurecon work on design, Aurecon on a Global Switch project in Australia.
Ten grid and energy supply organisations power the sites
Gunvor, the commodity trader, is in this layer as Firmus's 600MW power supplier in South Australia. AEMO, which operates the electricity market and power system on the east coast grid and in Western Australia, published its 2026 forecast of data centre electricity use. Transgrid, the NSW transmission owner, issued a Sydney basin capacity update on 20 August, Ausgrid has sought the regulator's approval for a Macquarie Park network upgrade, and Endeavour Energy, AusNet, Powerlink and ElectraNet serve Western Sydney, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
Origin says it continued to grow its share of Australia's data centre market, and AGL published its position on data centre connection costs in September.
Fifteen owners, investors and land developers fund the sites
Blackstone, one of Firmus's lenders, also leads the consortium that owns AirTrunk, with CPP Investments holding 12 per cent. CDC is owned by Infratil, the Future Fund and the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC), with management holding the remaining 3.66 per cent. HMC Capital manages DigiCo, Blue Owl owns STACK and Partners Group owns GreenSquareDC.
Centuria owns half of ResetData, Oaktree led Sharon AI's US$350 million convertible notes in May, and Macquarie Capital is an investor and adviser in the Western Downs Digital Park consortium with Zerra DC. Quinbrook is developing Supernode north of Brisbane, where battery storage is running and data centres are planned, and Starwood Capital is Telstra InfraCo's partner at Minchinbury.
Goodman and Stockland are developing powered land for data centres. Stockland has won consent for a data centre at Macquarie Park.
Six property advisers and banks work on the deals
CBRE and JLL are the property agents on the map, working on data centre land sales and leasing. JLL sold the Norwest site in Sydney to GreenSquareDC, and CBRE's data centre team was named Real Estate Advisory Team of the Year at the RICS Australia Awards on 22 September.
Four banks have advised on large transactions. Barrenjoey was reported in 2024 to be selling CSC's stake in CDC, Morgan Stanley was hired for NEXTDC's 850MW joint venture search, UBS ran the sale of Global Switch's Australian business and Goldman Sachs worked with AirTrunk on its options in 2023.
What to watch
Firmus's first day of trading on the ASX, due on 23 October.
NEXTDC's joint venture partner for 850MW across its S4 and S7 campuses in Western Sydney, the search Morgan Stanley and Cadence Advisory were hired for.
Zerra DC's application for the Western Downs Digital Park, now under assessment with Anthropic signed as tenant.
STACK's 450MW Erskine Park application, exhibited from 20 April to 4 May 2026 and still under assessment on 2 September.
IREN's Bundey campus, where energisation starts from 2028.
Companies on the map
Layer | Companies |
|---|---|
Cloud and AI labs | |
Neoclouds and GPU compute | |
Operators and developers | AirTrunk, CDC, NEXTDC, Equinix, Digital Realty, DigiCo, Macquarie Data Centres, STACK, DCI Data Centers, GreenSquareDC, Polaris, Leading Edge, iseek, Zerra DC, Telstra, Armada |
Chips, servers and networks | NVIDIA, AMD, Dell Technologies, HPE, Supermicro, Lenovo, Cisco, Nokia, Dicker Data, Vocus, Megaport, SUBCO |
Power and cooling | |
Engineering and construction | Arup, Aurecon, Multiplex, A W Edwards, Kapitol Group, Hickory, Erilyan, BESIX Watpac |
Grid and energy supply | AEMO, Transgrid, Endeavour Energy, Ausgrid, AusNet, Powerlink, ElectraNet, Origin, AGL, Gunvor |
Owners, investors and land | Blackstone, CPP Investments, Future Fund, CSC, Infratil, HMC Capital, Partners Group, Blue Owl, Centuria, Macquarie Group, Oaktree, Quinbrook, Starwood Capital, Goodman, Stockland |
Property, banking and media | CBRE, JLL, Barrenjoey, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Certified Strategic |