SLB to Acquire Kelvion in $3.4 Billion Data Center Deal

SLB has signed an agreement to acquire Kelvion, a global supplier of thermal management and heat exchange technologies, for approximately $3.4 billion in cash. The transaction will strengthen SLB’s Data Center Solutions business and expand its presence across the rapidly growing data center infrastructure market, driven by increasing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption.

SLB Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch said AI is fueling an unprecedented infrastructure investment cycle and creating greater demand for integrated solutions capable of supporting increasingly complex data center operations. The acquisition is expected to more than double SLB’s revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity while expanding its product portfolio and global reach.

With more than a century of operating experience, Kelvion provides thermal management and heat exchange solutions to data center, energy and industrial customers. Its technologies cover a broad range of cooling and heat-transfer applications. Data centers are Kelvion’s largest and fastest-growing market, with revenue expected to reach approximately $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in 2026. Overall, Kelvion is projected to generate $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion in revenue and $350 million to $400 million in adjusted EBITDA during the year.

Beyond data centers, Kelvion serves energy and industrial applications, including heat pumps, renewable energy, carbon capture and processing. These markets increasingly require efficient thermal management systems to improve operational performance and energy efficiency.

SLB’s Data Center Solutions business has expanded rapidly, with revenue expected to record a CAGR of more than 90% between 2024 and 2026. Its cumulative delivered capacity is also expected to exceed 2 gigawatts by the end of 2026. The company combines modular manufacturing, engineering, offsite construction and digital technologies to provide integrated infrastructure solutions. Its modular approach can reduce onsite construction complexity and shorten the time required to bring facilities into operation by as much as 40%.

Under the agreement, SLB will acquire Kelvion from Apollo-managed funds, its majority owner, and Triton-advised funds, which hold a minority stake. SLB will also assume approximately $0.7 billion of debt, taking the total transaction value to about $4.1 billion.

SLB expects the acquisition to increase earnings per share and free cash flow per share within the first 12 months after closing. The company anticipates around $120 million in annual EBITDA synergies within three years through cost efficiencies and additional revenue opportunities.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the first half of 2027. Combined, SLB and Kelvion are projected to generate more than $2 billion in data center revenue and approximately $300 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2026 on a pro-forma basis. By 2028, SLB targets $4.5 billion to $5 billion in revenue and $700 million to $800 million in adjusted EBITDA from its combined data center solutions business.

Impact on Products and Chemical Commodity Prices

The acquisition should strengthen demand for heat-transfer fluids, coolants, specialty chemicals, polymers, coatings, refrigerants and insulation materials used in data center cooling and thermal-management systems. As AI-driven data center construction accelerates, higher deployment of advanced cooling infrastructure could support incremental consumption of these materials. In particular, demand for high-performance thermal fluids and specialty polymers may receive a positive boost. For chemical commodities tracked by ChemAnalyst, the immediate price impact is likely to be modestly bullish, rather than sharply inflationary, because the acquisition itself does not directly reduce chemical supply. Sustained data center investment could, however, provide longer-term demand support for relevant chemical products.