By Prakhar Srivastava and Pragyan Kalita
April 16 (Reuters) – Madison Air Solutions secured a valuation of $15.65 billion after its shares jumped 18.5% in their debut on Thursday, signaling solid investor demand for companies tied to AI-driven data center growth.
The shares of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) firm opened at $32, above the offer price of $27. The Chicago, Illinois-based company raised $2.23 billion in its U.S. initial public offering on Wednesday, after selling 82.7 million shares at the top end of its marketed range of $25 to $27.
The strong debut comes at a time when the U.S. IPO market remains uneven, hit by a tech sell-off, strains in private credit and an ongoing conflict in the Middle East, even as demand persists for companies linked to AI infrastructure.
“The reception of Madison Air suggests investors are still willing to look forward and pay a premium,” said IPOX Vice President Kat Liu.
She added that the listing, the largest U.S. IPO so far this year, was priced at the high end and well oversubscribed, signaling that investor appetite is clearly back, particularly for cash-generative businesses.
Madison Air’s offering is also the biggest listing in the industrials sector since United Parcel Service raised $5.5 billion in 1999, according to Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
Founded in 2017 through a series of acquisitions, the company provides air quality solutions for residential and commercial clients across a range of sectors, including data centers, advanced manufacturing, education and healthcare.
Heating and cooling equipment makers have benefited from a surge in data centers, as rapid growth in AI and cloud computing drives demand for advanced cooling systems to manage heat from power-intensive servers.
Madison Air generated about 66% of its revenue from its commercial segment last year, with the remainder from residential customers. Its brands include Nortek Air Solutions and Nortek Data Center Cooling.
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita and Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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