GERMANY; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA —Energy technology provider SLB has executed a definitive agreement to purchase thermal management supplier Kelvion from majority owner Apollo and minority shareholder Triton in a transaction valued at $4.1 billion, comprising $3.4 billion in cash and $0.7 billion of assumed debt. Scheduled for completion in the first half of 2027 subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition integrates specialized liquid cooling and heat exchange hardware into SLB's growing data center solutions business. SLB is a global technology enterprise providing equipment and digital services to the energy, industrial, and digital infrastructure sectors. Kelvion is a Germany-headquartered engineering group specializing in industrial heat exchangers and advanced thermal management systems. Apollo and Triton are international private equity investment firms focused on industrial buyouts and corporate growth capital.
The transaction represents a strategic expansion by traditional energy service providers into hyperscale digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence hardware support networks. High-density computing clusters powering modern artificial intelligence models generate extreme heat levels, forcing data center operators to transition from conventional air cooling toward liquid cooling and specialized heat exchange systems. Acquiring Kelvion significantly expands SLB's addressable revenue per gigawatt of delivered data center capacity, combining offsite modular fabrication with thermal hardware to reduce facility construction timelines for enterprise technology clients.
This buyout reflects broader structural consolidation across the industrial cooling supply chain as escalating power demands and thermal limits reshape data center development worldwide. Beyond computing facilities, thermal control technologies serve a foundational role in broader energy transition sectors, including industrial heat pumps, geothermal power, carbon capture projects, and renewable energy storage facilities. Incorporating specialized heat-transfer manufacturing into SLB's international operational footprint creates an integrated engineering pipeline capable of servicing both oilfield operations and high-growth industrial energy sectors.
From a financial perspective, the purchase price implies an enterprise multiple of approximately 11 times estimated 2026 EBITDA, stepping down to 8.5 times when factoring in $120 million in projected annual synergies. Pro-forma projections indicate the combined data center business will deliver over $2 billion in revenue in 2026, with medium-term financial targets aiming for up to $5 billion in revenue and $800 million in adjusted EBITDA by 2028. Maintaining a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 1.5 times allows SLB to preserve its investment-grade balance sheet while maintaining planned shareholder capital returns of more than $4 billion in 2026.
