Schneider Electric prepares acquisition of data center cooling firm Motivair

Schneider Electric prepares acquisition of data center cooling firm Motivair

Schneider Electric is preparing to expand its “liquid cooling” portfolio for (AI) data centers. To this end, the French IT energy management and automation specialist recently took a majority stake in its US competitor, Motivair.

Schneider Electric sees the majority stake in Motivair as an opportunity to expand its portfolio of cooling applications for data centers. The focus is primarily on liquid cooling applications for high-performance computing and, thus, AI.

The majority stake gives Schneider Electric 75 percent of Motivair’s shares. It has paid about $850 million (€783 million) in cash. The French IT energy management and automation specialist plans to buy the remaining 25 percent by 2028.

Cloud cooling specialist

US-based Motivair builds systems that pump liquid cooling substances under high pressure close to chips in servers. In this way, these servers can then be cooled in a highly efficient manner. Applications that the cooling specialist makes include the aforementioned Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs), as well as Rear Door Heat Exchangers (RDHx), Cold Plates, Heat Dissipation Units (HDUs0 and heat management coolers.

No new acquisitions for the time being

Earlier this year, the IT energy management and automation specialist tried to acquire U.S. engineering software specialist Bentley Systems, but the deal did not close. For the coming period, Schneider Electric is not considering any new acquisitions, writes Reuters.

Read more: Energy hungry data centers in AI era puts nuclear back on the agenda