Schneider Electric acquires 75% of liquid cooling specialist Motivair for USD 850 million

2024-10-17 · Publisher : Schneider Electric · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

Schneider Electric takes control of Motivair, a US liquid cooling specialist for high-performance computing, for USD 850 million in cash, and plans to buy the rest by 2028.

### Background On 17 October 2024, Schneider Electric announces the acquisition of a **75% controlling interest in Motivair**, a company based in Buffalo, New York, specialized in liquid cooling and thermal management for high-performance computing systems. The deal is settled in cash for USD 850 million. Schneider plans to buy the remaining 25% by 2028. Motivair joins Schneider's Energy Management division, which already groups direct-to-chip cooling and thermal technologies. ### Key facts - Price: USD 850 million in cash for 75% of the capital. - Balance: the remaining 25% would be bought by 2028. - Motivair's offering: coolant distribution units, rear-door heat exchangers, cold plates and chillers. - Rationale: accelerated computing requires new architectures, as air alone no longer removes the heat. - Context figure cited by the press: Goldman Sachs expects +160% in data centre power demand by 2030. ### Why it matters Liquid cooling moves from scientific computing to mainstream AI data centres, and electrical equipment makers are positioning. For IT departments, the question is whether existing rooms can host high-density racks: many sites will need to be adapted, which weighs on schedules and costs of on-premises AI deployment. ### Takeaway A major electrical supplier buys its way into liquid cooling, a sign that the heat of AI chips is an infrastructure issue.

Tags : Acquisition, Refroidissement liquide, Datacenter, Europe