SLB, the Houston-based energy technology company, is buying thermal management company Kelvion for roughly $3.4 billion in cash, plus about $0.7 billion in assumed debt.
The deal was announced August 31 and still needs regulatory approval. SLB expects it to close in the first half of 2027.
Kelvion has been in the heat exchange business for over a century. It's not just a cooling company either. Its portfolio touches heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture and industrial processing.
But data centers are its fastest-growing segment by far.
The numbers behind the buy:
Kelvion expects $2.3 to $2.4 billion in 2026 revenue, with data centers alone bringing in $1.2 to $1.3 billion
SLB's Data Center Solutions business has grown at a CAGR topping 90% since 2024
SLB expects to surpass 2 gigawatts of cumulative delivered capacity by the end of this year
Its modular build approach speeds up time to operation by as much as 40%
Combined, SLB and Kelvion expect more than $2 billion in pro forma data center revenue this year, with a 2028 target of $4.5 to $5 billion
Wired for Growth: CEO Olivier Le Peuch called this part of "the most significant infrastructure investment cycle in our lifetime." SLB backs that up with a specific number: the deal more than doubles the company's revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity.
Cost of Doing Business: SLB is projecting $120 million in annual EBITDA synergies within three years of closing, savings it's counting on to help justify the 11 times EBITDA price tag before those synergies land.
Buying a century-old cooling company might look like a departure for an energy technology firm. But the math tells the real story: SLB just doubled what every gigawatt of data center capacity is worth to its business.
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