Schneider Electric has signed an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Motivair Corporation, which specialises in liquid cooling and advanced thermal management solutions for high performance computing systems.
Under the terms of the transaction, Schneider Electric will acquire an initial 75 per cent controlling interest in the equity of Motivair for an all-cash consideration of $US850 million.
The company expects to acquire the remaining 25 per cent in 2028.
The advent of Generative-AI and the introduction of Large Language Models (LLMs) have been additional catalysts driving enhanced power needs to support increased digitisation across end-markets.
This shift to accelerated computing has led to new data centre architectures requiring more efficient cooling solutions, particularly liquid cooling, as traditional air cooling alone cannot mitigate the higher heat generated for these workloads.
As the compute within data centres becomes higher-density, the need for effective cooling will grow, with multiple market and analyst forecasts predicting growth in liquid cooling solutions in excess of +30 per cent CAGR in the coming years.
This transaction strengthens Schneider Electric’s portfolio of direct-to-chip liquid cooling and high-capacity thermal solutions.
Headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Motivair was founded in 1988 and currently has over 150 employees.
Leveraging its strong engineering competency and deep domain expertise, Motivair has a world class range of products including Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs), Rear Door Heat Exchangers (RDHx), Cold Plates and Heat Dissipation Units (HDUs), alongside Chillers for thermal management.
While liquid cooling is not a new technology, specific application to the Data Centre and AI environment represents a nascent market set for strong growth in the coming years. Motivair has years of unrivalled experience in cooling the world’s fastest supercomputers with liquid cooling solutions.
In recent quarters, the company has been tracking a strong double-digit growth trajectory, which is expected to continue.
Schneider Electric CEO, Peter Herweck, said the acquisition of Motivair represents an important step forward as it supports their world leading position across the Data Centre value chain.
“The unique liquid cooling portfolio of Motivair complements our value proposition in Data Centre cooling and further strengthens our prominent position in Data Centre build out from Grid to Chip and from Chip to Chiller,” Herweck said.
Motivair Corporation president & CEO, Rich Whitmore, said Schneider Electric shares their core values and commitment to innovation, sustainability and excellence.
Whitmore will continue to run the Motivair business out of Buffalo, NY after the closing of the transaction.
"Joining forces with Schneider will enable us to further scale our operations and invest in new technologies that will drive our mission forward and solidify our position as an industry leader,” he said.
“We are thrilled to embark on this exciting journey together."
On completion of the transaction, Motivair will become part of the Energy Management business of Schneider Electric.