A potential billion-dollar sale of a data center cooling company by private capital firm KKR has since crystallized into one of the most striking returns of the current AI infrastructure boom. KKR, which had been exploring a multibillion-dollar exit from CoolIT Systems as surging demand for liquid cooling lifted valuations, reached a deal in March 2026 that valued the business far above early estimates.
From a $270 million stake to a $4.75 billion deal
CoolIT Systems, a Calgary-based company founded in 2001, builds liquid cooling technology used in everything from gaming computers to large-scale AI data center infrastructure. KKR acquired a majority stake in May 2023 at a base purchase price of about $270 million, with Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala co-investing for a minority position.
Early reporting suggested KKR was targeting a valuation above $3 billion. The transaction ultimately announced went further: Mubadala agreed to sell its minority stake to water and hygiene specialist Ecolab in a KKR-led deal valuing CoolIT at roughly $4.75 billion, expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. Both KKR and Mubadala were reported to be realizing approximately 15 times their total investment, an outcome driven by CoolIT’s rapid expansion since 2023, including a larger manufacturing footprint, a sharp increase in coolant distribution unit capacity, and a roughly doubled workforce.
An AI buildout reshaping the cooling market
The scale of data center construction to support hyperscalers and AI workloads has pushed dealmaking well beyond the core technology sector and into energy and industrial suppliers. By one estimate cited in the original reporting, several thousand data centers are under construction or planned in the United States, adding to thousands of existing sites and increasing demand for advanced cooling. As chips draw more power and run hotter, liquid cooling has shifted from a niche product toward essential infrastructure.
CoolIT is not an isolated case. In a deal completed in 2026, industrial manufacturer Eaton paid about $9.5 billion for the Boyd Thermal business, which it valued at roughly 22.5 times estimated 2026 adjusted EBITDA and which is forecast to generate around $1.7 billion in sales, most of it from liquid cooling. Competitor Vertiv has also expanded in the space through acquisitions of liquid-cooling services providers, including PurgeRite. Power supply has become part of the same story: a consortium led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and EQT agreed to take utility group AES Corporation private in a deal with an enterprise value of about $33.4 billion, partly to serve the enormous electricity demand of new data centers.
KKR’s broader data center push
KKR has been among the most active private capital buyers of digital infrastructure in recent years. In 2021 it took US data center operator CyrusOne private alongside GIP in a transaction valued at roughly $15 billion including debt. The CoolIT exit fits that pattern, monetizing a component supplier at a moment when cooling capacity is a bottleneck for AI expansion.
Limitations and what to watch
The headline returns reflect a specific and unusually favorable market moment, and they are not guaranteed to repeat. Some investors have begun to question whether the vast sums being committed to data center construction will earn adequate returns, and a cooling of AI infrastructure demand would directly affect suppliers like CoolIT. Deal valuations such as the 22.5x EBITDA multiple paid for Boyd Thermal are high by historical standards and assume sustained growth. Figures here reflect reported terms at the time of announcement; final transaction values can shift before deals close. None of this constitutes investment advice.
