BUZZ-Jefferies says Australia's Maas share price crash post construction materials arm exit "excessive"

** Jefferies says the stock price fall in Maas Group MGH.AX after selling its building materials division is "excessive"

** Says the sale price for the business was "good" and debt reduction will be well-received

** Construction materials equipment and services provider on Friday said it would divest its construction materials division for up to A$1.7 billion ($1.21 billion) to pivot towards AI-related infra, sending its shares down more than 26%

** Co added it would invest A$100 million in Nvidia-backed NVDA.O AI infrastructure firm Firmus for a 1.7% stake

** Jefferies says investor concern seems to be around co's strategic intent and Firmus partnership

** Whilst we acknowledge uncertainty around AI factory roll-out and the highly geared Firmus strategy, one way or another, we see the Firmus revenue stream as underestimated by the Street - Jefferies

** Stock down 23% so far this year, as of last close

($1 = 1.4102 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))