Two Nvidia-backed AI data-centre developers have now sought listings at valuations of about $30 billion and met resistance from investors. Nscale has been seeking an IPO valuation of about $30 billion while some investors urged $16 billion to $19 billion, Bloomberg reported on 18 October 2026, and Firmus dropped its IPO this month after investors balked at a valuation increase to $30 billion, Bloomberg wrote.
On our arithmetic, the range those investors urged sits 37% to 47% below Nscale’s ask. This piece puts that gap next to the other listings and credit signals we have reported in the past ten days, each from its own source.
Business Pill · CONCENTRATION
A one-minute explainer of concentration: when a few big pieces make up most of a total. It teaches the general idea only and says nothing about any company in this story.
The key insight: As we read it, several of the reports set these listings side by side themselves: Bloomberg’s Nscale sources cited the collapse of Firmus’ IPO plan, Reuters grouped AirTrunk, Firmus and SB Energy as pulled or paused, and Bloomberg’s Elice report cited Firmus, CoreWeave and Nscale as context.
Nscale: According to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, the developer has been seeking an IPO valuation of about $30 billion, while a cohort of investors urged a range of $16 billion to $19 billion, citing factors including the collapse of Firmus’ IPO plan. Separately, the Telegraph reported that Microsoft, one of Nscale’s two largest customers, told the company it was pulling out of the agreement at its Loughton site in Essex, where grid bosses do not expect a power supply until the 2030s.
NextDC: The Melbourne data-centre operator asked the Australian Securities Exchange for an immediate trading halt on 19 October, saying in its request that it needed to update the market on a delay to the power supply at its M3 site. Bloomberg reported a note from Citigroup analysts saying the delay could reduce NextDC’s fiscal 2027 operating earnings by as much as A$25 million.
Solidigm: South Korea’s financial regulator said on 19 October that SK Hynix’s potential listing of its US unit Solidigm could violate restrictions on dual listing, Reuters reported, quoting Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin at a parliamentary hearing.
Elice: The Seoul data-centre and AI cloud company priced its Kosdaq IPO at 90,500 won, the top of its marketed range, raising 201 billion won ($151 million), with the retail offering oversubscribed by more than 400 times, Bloomberg reported on 19 October. It starts trading on 20 October.
Nscale has been seeking an IPO valuation of about $30 billion while some investors urged $16 billion to $19 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter; Firmus dropped its IPO after investors balked at a valuation increase to $30 billion, Bloomberg wrote (Bloomberg, October 2026).
Bloomberg’s post of 21:35 UTC on 18 October 2026, linking its report that Nscale is facing opposition to the valuation target it is pursuing in its IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. It is the source for the $30 billion ask and the $16 billion to $19 billion range in this piece, and the 37% to 47% gap is our arithmetic on those figures.
Bloomberg’s post of 07:30 UTC on 19 October 2026 says Elice will test AI investors’ nerves when it debuts on South Korea’s Kosdaq market. It matters here because Elice is the one listing in this set that, as Bloomberg reports, priced at the top of its range, so its 20 October debut is the next market price on the same questions.
the neocloud boom is really an anthropic boom
of the $157B in publicly priced deals neoclouds signed this year, anthropic signed $90B (57% of total)
anthropic’s revenue grew 7x in a year and unlike most companies, they actually can use any chip. and they are.
they use amazon’s trainium, google’s tpus, nvidia’s gpus, AND signed a deal with amd
because it can use any chip, it can rent from anyone with capacity, which protects them from any shortage
meta came second at $48B with @nebiusai and @CoreWeave. but where’s openAI? this year it signed just $10B with @cerebras – (but in 2025 openai signed ~$610B with @Oracle, @Microsoft, @awscloud and @CoreWeave, while anthropic only signed ~$80B)
as long as anthropic keeps growing, the biggest neoclouds will continue to have a great customer
Jessie Dong’s post of 04:29 UTC on 19 October 2026 argues that “the neocloud boom is really an anthropic boom” and attaches her chart of publicly priced 2026 neocloud deals: by her count, $90 billion of $157 billion came from Anthropic, including a $45 billion Nscale deal. It is the source for the 19 October Update above; the figures are hers, and they matter here because the Nscale line ties the IPO’s valuation to one customer’s demand.
The Earlier Signals
Firmus withdrew its application to list on the ASX, ABC News reported on 9 October 2026, citing recent market volatility and conditions. Bloomberg later wrote that Firmus dropped an IPO to raise as much as $5.5 billion after investors balked at its steep increase in valuation to $30 billion.
AirTrunk is delaying the IPO of a real estate investment trust in Singapore until next year, CNBC-TV18 reported on 13 October, as higher interest rates and market volatility temper investor appetite. Reuters reported that listings for a Blackstone-backed AirTrunk REIT, Nvidia-backed Firmus and SoftBank-backed SB Energy had either been pulled or paused.
The Credit Backdrop
On 14 October CNBC reported that the yield to maturity on CoreWeave’s 9.625% bond due in 2032 stood at 14.8%, intraday, as its shares fell 16%. On 19 October Bloomberg said investors have been dialing down expectations for listings by Anthropic and Nscale, and that rising borrowing costs could squeeze capital spending.
The same day, Bloomberg reported that South Korea’s National Pension Service took a 182 trillion won ($137 billion) hit on its stakes as of 15 October, led by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, citing FnGuide. Nikkei reported SoftBank Group at a two-and-a-half-month low at one point on AI investment worries.
The Price Gap, in Numbers
Nscale’s ask of about $30 billion against the $16 billion to $19 billion investors urged leaves a gap of $11 billion to $14 billion, or 37% to 47% of the ask. Those figures are our arithmetic on Bloomberg’s numbers, not a figure Bloomberg gave.
Firmus’ $30 billion valuation, in Bloomberg’s account, did not reach a listing at all. Elice, expected to have a post-listing market value exceeding 1 trillion won at the offer price, according to Bloomberg, is the one listing in this set that priced at the top of its range.
The $16 billion to $19 billion range investors urged sits 37% to 47% below Nscale’s ask of about $30 billion (our arithmetic on Bloomberg’s figures); other signals as cited in the text (Citigroup analysts via Bloomberg; CNBC; Bloomberg).
The Structural Reading
As we read it, the reports themselves draw the connections: Bloomberg’s Nscale sources cited Firmus, Reuters grouped the paused Asian listings, and Bloomberg’s Elice report used Firmus, CoreWeave and Nscale as context. The Telegraph’s Loughton report, NextDC’s halt and CNBC’s CoreWeave yield are separate reports, and none ties its subject to Nscale’s valuation.
As we read it, Elice’s top-of-range pricing shows retail demand for AI-infrastructure listings has not gone away; its first day of trading on 20 October is the next price signal on the same risks.
Update, 19 October: One Tally Puts Anthropic at 57% of 2026 Neocloud Deal Value
By Jessie Dong’s count, posted on X on 19 October with a chart, neoclouds signed $157 billion in publicly priced deals in 2026, and $90 billion of that, or 57%, came from Anthropic. Meta was second at $48 billion (30%), OpenAI accounted for $10 billion and other customers for $9 billion. Her chart says it counts deals with a public price signed from 1 January to 18 October 2026, drawn from company announcements and filings and from Bloomberg, CNBC and Reuters reporting, and that the Nscale, Lambda and Volta figures are Bloomberg reports.
The largest neocloud deal on her chart is Nscale: Anthropic renting 460 MW in West Virginia for six years from late 2027, which her chart values at $45 billion and dates to August 2026. Her other Anthropic lines are Lambda ($35 billion, about 350 MW in Texas) and Volta ($10 billion, 133 MW in Norway); Meta’s are Nebius ($12 billion fixed, up to $27 billion) and CoreWeave ($21 billion), and OpenAI’s is Cerebras ($10 billion). Adding AWS ($100 billion), SpaceX’s Memphis data center (about $45 billion) and TeraWulf ($19 billion), her chart puts Anthropic’s 2026 total at $254 billion.
Those totals follow her scope, and our earlier reporting uses different measures: our piece on Anthropic’s IPO value cites The Information on the $530 billion in leased computing capacity Anthropic is racing to bring online, and Techmeme’s summary of the FT on a $60 billion package to buy Google TPUs. We have not re-verified her deal-by-deal figures.
As we read it, the only Nscale deal in her count is with a single customer, Anthropic, so investors pricing Nscale’s listing are also pricing Anthropic’s demand.
The Structural Read
As we read it, the two $30 billion asks are the clearest data point: Bloomberg reports investors urged Nscale towards $16 billion to $19 billion, and that Firmus dropped its IPO after investors balked at a $30 billion valuation.
As we read it, NextDC’s halt and the Solidigm warning are separate reports: one concerns a power delay at a listed operator, the other a regulator’s view of a planned listing.
As we read it, Elice is the counter-example in this set: Bloomberg reports it priced at the top of its range, with its retail offering oversubscribed by more than 400 times.
Jae Won Kim, chief executive of Elice, to Bloomberg, 19 October 2026
“This IPO is about giving ourselves the financial firepower to execute.”
Three Implications
NEOCLOUD IPO CANDIDATES Bloomberg reported that investors urged Nscale towards $16 billion to $19 billion against an ask of about $30 billion, citing factors including the collapse of Firmus’ IPO plan.
DATA-CENTRE OPERATORS NextDC asked for a trading halt over a power delay at its M3 site, and a note from Citigroup analysts put up to A$25 million of fiscal 2027 operating earnings at risk, Bloomberg reported.
LENDERS AND PENSION FUNDS CNBC reported a 14.8% yield on CoreWeave’s 2032 bond on 14 October, and Bloomberg reported a 182 trillion won hit to Korea’s National Pension Service on its stakes.
The framework puts it this way: “The structural bottleneck isn’t computing, it’s electrons.”
As we read it, two items in this piece are power stories: grid bosses do not expect a supply at Loughton until the 2030s, the Telegraph reports, and NextDC halted its shares over a power-supply delay at M3. Neither source links them to the valuations above. The framework was published in December 2025 and does not discuss these companies.
What Is Not Established
Bloomberg’s account of Nscale relies on people familiar with the matter, and Bloomberg said deliberations are ongoing; Nscale has not set a final valuation. The 37% to 47% gap is our arithmetic. The sources do not give a common reason for these listings, and this piece does not claim one cause for all of them. We have not read Elice’s prospectus; its figures are as Bloomberg reports them.
Business Engineer Framework
The State of AI Data Centers
A Business Engineer analysis of the power gap behind the AI data-centre build-out.
Two Nvidia-backed AI data-centre developers, Nscale and Firmus, sought valuations of about $30 billion and met investor pushback, according to Bloomberg; investors urged Nscale towards $16 billion to $19 billion, which on our arithmetic is 37% to 47% below its ask. On 19 October NextDC asked for a trading halt over a power delay, Korea’s regulator flagged Solidigm’s listing, and Bloomberg reported that Elice, which priced at the top of its range, debuts on 20 October.
A note on sourcing. This is an analysis that combines reports we have already covered, each linked in the text: Bloomberg on Nscale (people familiar with the matter), Firmus, NextDC, Elice and Korea’s pension fund; the Telegraph on Microsoft and Loughton; NextDC’s ASX filing; Reuters on Solidigm and on paused listings; ABC News on Firmus; CNBC-TV18 on AirTrunk; CNBC on CoreWeave; and Nikkei on SoftBank. The 19 October Update reports Jessie Dong’s tally as she published it on X (post and chart); the figures are hers and we have not re-verified them.
The 37% to 47% gap is our arithmetic on Bloomberg’s figures. Nothing here is a forecast, and nothing here is financial or investment advice.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
Scroll to Top
Discover more from FourWeekMBA
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
