Shares in Fermi soar as investors back data centre start-up

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Fermi Inc rocketed on Thursday, after trading in the real estate investment trust's dual-listed stock got underway. The American start-up, co-founded by former US energy secretary Rick Perry just ten months ago, soared 55% on Wall Street after the shares opened at $25 on Wednesday. The offer price had been $21.

By noon on Thursday, Fermi - which is valued at around $15bn - had put on a further 15% in pre-market trading.

The Texas-based company opted to list on both Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange, with admission to London's main market scheduled for Thursday.

The unusual debut - it is thought to be the first Nasdaq-LSE dual listing since the late 1990s - is widely seen as a win for the City, which has struggled to attract initial public offerings in the face of fierce overseas competition.

Fermi, which is raising $681m through the listings, wants to attract both domestic and foreign investors.

The company was founded less than a year ago, in January. But it has proven hugely popular with investors, as it is seeking to tap into the artificial intelligence boom by building nuclear, natural gas and solar energy assets capable of delivery the vast amounts of power required by the sector.

It intends to build the world's largest energy and data campus on a 5,200 acre site in Amarillo, Texas, which will include one of the largest nuclear power complexes in America.

The campus is expected to deliver around 11 gigawatts of electricity once completed.

Toby Neugebauer, chief executive, said: "The market understands that AI and chips are only as good as the power that supports them.

"This IPO injects significant capital onto our balance sheet, enabling us to continue locking up long lead-time items and executing at the velocity of the last ten months, which will be required to deliver power at scales.

"We are very pleased with the strong investor demand for our IPO in both London and New York."

Perry, meanwhile, told Reuters: "I've never been involved with anything that was more intriguing, from the standpoint of the idea of winning this race towards AI.

"This is our modern-day Manhattan Project."