Sharon AI ASX Listing: $487M Oaktree Raise Explained

At a Glance

• Sharon AI has raised US$350 million (A$487 million) in five-year convertible notes anchored by Oaktree, at a 6 per cent coupon and a US$48.24 conversion price, a 20 per cent premium to the current share price .

• Oaktree is doubling down: same anchor investor from the February Nasdaq IPO, now underwriting at a premium strike, signalling credit-grade conviction in contracted backlog rather than run-rate earnings.

• ASX secondary listing targeted for mid-June 2026, with Canaccord and Macquarie running a non-deal roadshow this week .

• The ASX listing window places Sharon AI alongside Firmus as the second major Australian neocloud to test public markets in 2026.

• 2025 revenue was just US$1.57 million; Cantor Fitzgerald forecasts the US$1.25 billion ESDS contract alone contributing over US$60 million per quarter from 2027.

Sydney-based Sharon AI has raised US$350 million through a five-year convertible note offering anchored by private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, the same investor that led its February 2026 Nasdaq float at US$30 per share. The notes carry a 6 per cent quarterly coupon and an initial conversion price of roughly US$48.24, a 20 per cent premium to the current share price. Chief executive James Manning is running a non-deal roadshow with Australian institutions this week alongside Canaccord and Macquarie, with an ASX secondary listing targeted for mid-June.

Sharon AI operates as an asset-light neocloud, leasing colocation capacity from certified operators such as NextDC and reselling GPU compute on top. That model has moved the company from a small fleet and US$1.57 million in CY25 revenue to an 8,200-unit Nvidia B300 deployment and a US$1.25 billion five-year contract with Indian cloud provider ESDS Software Solutions, with first revenue expected in Q3 2026. Canva signed as a lighthouse customer earlier this year, validating the sovereign-compute thesis for Australia's most valuable private tech business.

Why Oaktree's Return Matters

Oaktree re-anchoring the convertible is the clearest institutional signal in the Australian AI infrastructure market this quarter. The same investor led the Nasdaq pricing at US$30 in February and is now doubling its exposure at an effective US$48.24 strike, suggesting Oaktree sees material headroom above the current trading level. For a company whose CY25 revenue was US$1.57 million, the willingness of a credit specialist to underwrite a nine-figure note at a premium conversion price is a direct vote on contracted backlog rather than on run-rate earnings.

Two Paths to Listed Neocloud

The ASX listing window places Sharon AI alongside Firmus as the second major Australian neocloud to test public markets in 2026. Firmus closed a US$10 billion debt financing facility in February led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone Credit & Insurance, with additional support from Coatue. Firmus added a further US$505 million equity round led by Coatue with Nvidia participating in April, valuing the company at US$5.5 billion and setting up a targeted US$2 billion ASX IPO in June or July. The two companies represent structurally different neocloud models: Firmus is building and operating its own immersion-cooled AI factories under Project Southgate, including a flagship renewable-powered campus in Launceston and a first deployment in Melbourne, while Sharon AI installs compute inside third-party certified facilities such as NextDC's M3 in Melbourne. If both list on schedule, Australian investors will have two listed reference points for AI infrastructure exposure, one capital-heavy and one capital-light, and the relative multiples each attracts will be an early indicator of how the market is pricing operational risk versus build risk in sovereign AI.

Financial Read

On the numbers disclosed, the 6 per cent coupon on US$350 million implies roughly US$21 million in annual cash interest, while Cantor Fitzgerald forecasts the ESDS contract alone will contribute north of US$60 million per quarter from 2027. If that contracted revenue materialises on the Q3 2026 timeline Manning has guided to, interest cover moves from theoretical to comfortable within two quarters of first invoice. The conversion price at a 20 per cent premium also means Oaktree is not pricing in near-term multiple expansion, only execution.

The Sovereign Capability Angle

Sharon AI is using foreign credit to buy Nvidia silicon that is then installed and operated on Australian soil under Australian corporate governance, which keeps a growing share of enterprise AI spend from customers like Canva onshore rather than routed through US hyperscalers. An ASX listing extends that logic to the share register, giving Australian super funds and retail investors direct ownership of sovereign compute capacity that would otherwise sit exclusively on a US exchange.