FILE PHOTO: A man walks on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Arasu Kannagi Basil

(Reuters) -Fermi, co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is targeting a valuation of up to $13.16 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, it said on Wednesday, as the AI boom fuels spending on data centers.

The Amarillo, Texas-based real estate investment trust plans to raise up to $550 million by offering 25 million shares priced between $18 and $22 apiece.

Data centers have become highly sought after as technology companies race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence models, which relies heavily on such infrastructure.

Fermi aims to join a string of AI-focused companies such as data center operators CoreWeave and WhiteFiber that have tapped public markets this year.

Founded in January 2025, Fermi is aiming to build the world's largest energy and data complex, powered by nuclear, natural gas and solar.

While it has big plans, Fermi remains a development-stage company.

"AI is arguably the investment story of a lifetime, but at this stage Fermi is still a story, and it'll be interesting to see how much investors will pay for it," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.

"It's (the proposed valuation) very ambitious for a development-stage company. The key here is what sort of contracts they can sign."

PROJECT MATADOR

Dubbed as Project Matador, Fermi's flagship project is aiming to deliver up to 11 gigawatts of power to data centers through a mix of nuclear, gas and solar power by 2038.

Situated on a 5,236-acre site in Texas, Fermi's energy campus expects to draw data center and hyperscaler tenants and have one gigawatt of capacity ready by 2026 end.

Fermi does not expect to generate revenue within the next 12 months. It has incurred a $6.4 million loss since its inception through June 30.

Perry, who served as Texas Governor for 15 years, is currently a director at Fermi.

UBS, Evercore, Cantor and Mizuho are the joint lead book-running managers. Fermi will list on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "FRMI."

Fermi plans to use the proceeds to procure equipment and powered shells for its complex.

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)