SLB announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Kelvion, a global provider of thermal management and heat exchange technologies.
SLB strengthens data center push with Kelvion acquisition
The acquisition strengthens SLB's Data Center Solutions business with critical thermal management technologies and expands the company's role in data center infrastructure, which is one of the world’s fastest-growing industrial and technology markets.
“AI is driving the most significant infrastructure investment cycle in our lifetime,” said Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive officer of SLB. “This transaction accelerates our ambition to become an industrial technology partner to the data center industry and help customers address the growing infrastructure complexity required to scale AI. Kelvion advances our path toward more integrated data center infrastructure solutions, expands our addressable market — more than doubling our revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity — and allows us to scale both our offerings and the global reach of the business.”
About Kelvion: Thermal management at scale
Founded more than 100 years ago, Kelvion provides thermal management and heat exchange technologies serving data center, energy and industrial markets. Its portfolio spans a broad range of cooling and heat-transfer applications, positioning the company at the intersection of two powerful long-term growth trends: AI infrastructure and energy system transformation. In 2026, Kelvion is expected to generate revenue of approximately $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $350 million to $400 million. Data centers represent Kelvion’s largest and fastest-growing end market, with revenue expected to reach between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion in 2026. Beyond data centers, Kelvion has established positions in key energy and industrial markets, including heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture and processing solutions where thermal management plays an increasingly important role in efficiency, reliability and performance.
SLB's data center business momentum
SLB’s Data Center Solutions business has grown rapidly over the past few years, with revenue expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 90 percent between 2024 and 2026 and delivered capacity expected to surpass 2 gigawatts cumulatively by the end of the year. SLB combines modular manufacturing, offsite construction, engineering, and digital capabilities to deliver data center infrastructure solutions from design to system integration. This modular approach can reduce onsite construction complexity and accelerate time to operation by up to 40%.
“Data centers are becoming more sophisticated and energy-intensive, and customers are increasingly looking for partners that can optimize how critical systems work together across the facility and help bring new capacity online faster,” said Gavin Rennick, president of SLB’s New Energy and Industrial business. “Thermal management is central to that challenge, and this acquisition allows us to address it directly by delivering more integrated cooling solutions, accelerating innovation, optimizing thermal efficiency, and more directly embedding thermal management into our modular infrastructure offering.”
Deal terms and valuation
Under the terms of the agreement, SLB will acquire Kelvion from Apollo-managed funds – the majority owner – and funds advised by Triton, which holds a minority interest, for approximately $3.4 billion in cash and will assume approximately $0.7 billion of debt, representing a total transaction value of approximately 11 times estimated 2026 EBITDA before synergies, or approximately 8.5 times EBITDA including expected annual run-rate synergies.
SLB expects the transaction to be accretive to both earnings per share and free cash flow per share in the first 12 months following closing. The company also expects to generate approximately $120 million in annual EBITDA synergies within three years from cost efficiencies and incremental revenue opportunities. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Combined outlook through 2028
Together, SLB and Kelvion are expected to generate more than $2 billion in data center revenue and approximately $300 million in adjusted EBITDA on a pro-forma basis in 2026. Building on that foundation, SLB is targeting revenue of $4.5 billion to $5 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $800 million for its combined data center solutions business in 2028.
Following the transaction, SLB will retain a strong investment-grade balance sheet with net debt-to-EBITDA ratio remaining within its previously stated through-cycle target of up to 1.5 times. The company also reaffirms its commitment to return more than $4 billion to shareholders in 2026 through dividends and share repurchases. While formal 2027 targets will be finalized as part of the annual planning process, SLB expects total returns to shareholders to be at least in line with 2026 levels.
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Key points:
- SLB has agreed to acquire Kelvion, a global provider of thermal management and heat exchange technologies, expanding its role across data center infrastructure and strengthening its position in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market.
- The acquisition adds critical thermal management capabilities that will help customers improve efficiency, reliability and performance in increasingly complex and energy-intensive data centers.
- Kelvion advances SLB’s strategy to provide more integrated data center infrastructure solutions by combining cooling technologies with its existing engineering, modular manufacturing, offsite construction and digital capabilities.
- Beyond data centers, Kelvion has established positions in key energy and industrial markets, including heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture and processing solutions where thermal management plays an increasingly important role in efficiency, reliability and performance.
- For 2026, SLB’s and Kelvion’s data center businesses are expected to generate more than $2 billion in combined revenue on a pro forma basis, creating a leading platform for long-term growth in AI infrastructure.
- SLB is targeting revenue of $4.5 billion to $5 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $800 million for its combined data center solutions business in 2028.
