Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL), the St. Paul, Minnesota-based global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions, announced on March 20, 2026 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CoolIT Systems from funds managed by KKR for approximately $4.75 billion in cash. The acquisition is one of the largest transactions in the data centre cooling market to date — and among the most strategically significant deals in the broader HVAC and thermal management industry in 2026.
CoolIT Systems is a pure-play data centre liquid cooling company with end-to-end capabilities in coolant distribution units (CDUs), cold plates, and direct-to-chip cooling technologies. With more than 25 years of experience, its technology serves the world's largest hyperscale and colocation operators — including NVIDIA and AMD custom cooling partnerships. The company is expected to generate approximately $550 million in sales over the next 12 months, and the $4.75 billion price tag represents approximately 29 times next-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA — a premium multiple that reflects the market's conviction in data centre liquid cooling growth.
The KKR-to-Ecolab Trajectory — A Remarkable Valuation Journey
CoolIT's valuation trajectory tells the AI infrastructure story better than any analyst report. KKR and Mubadala Investment Company (the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund) acquired CoolIT in June 2023 for just $270 million. Ecolab is now paying $4.75 billion — a return of approximately 15 times on a three-year investment. The $4.48 billion of value creation in those three years reflects the explosion of hyperscaler AI infrastructure investment that turned liquid cooling from a niche data centre technology into a critical, non-optional component of AI compute deployment.
Ecolab CEO Christophe Beck framed the strategic logic directly: 'AI is transforming the demands on data centers, and liquid cooling is one of the critical technologies that makes advanced computing possible. By bringing together CoolIT's engineered cooling technologies with Ecolab's expertise in water, chemistry and digital service, we can provide our customers a complete cooling solution that improves performance and reliability while reducing water and energy use.'
Ecolab's $4.75 billion acquisition of CoolIT Systems — announced March 20, 2026, closing expected Q3 2026 — is the largest data centre liquid cooling deal of the year, paying 29x NTM adjusted EBITDA for a company that generated $270 million from KKR just three years ago. The 15x return reflects the AI infrastructure investment wave that transformed direct-to-chip liquid cooling from niche technology to critical AI compute infrastructure.
What CoolIT Does — End-to-End Liquid Cooling
CoolIT's product portfolio covers the full direct-to-chip liquid cooling stack:
• Coolant distribution units (CDUs): The infrastructure equipment that circulates and manages coolant through the liquid cooling loop — the central component of any direct-to-chip installation
• Cold plates: The direct-contact components that attach to processor packages and absorb heat through conduction into the liquid coolant — the point at which thermal management begins
• Direct-to-chip cooling systems: Complete integrated systems that deliver liquid cooling to individual processors within server racks — the technology that enables AI GPU clusters at thermal densities that air cooling cannot handle
• Custom engineering: CoolIT custom-designs solutions for leading AI chip developers including NVIDIA and AMD — creating customer-specific liquid cooling implementations that optimise thermal performance for specific processor generations
What the Ecolab Combination Creates
Ecolab's expertise in water chemistry, digital monitoring, and service delivery complements CoolIT's hardware and thermal engineering capabilities. The combination creates what Ecolab describes as an end-to-end fluid management and cooling platform for AI data centres — combining the chemical treatment, monitoring, and service infrastructure that keeps liquid cooling systems operating reliably over time with the hardware that delivers the cooling in the first place.
The acquisition is expected to accelerate Global Water's organic sales growth rate by 2% and Ecolab's total organic sales growth rate by 1% — confirming that CoolIT's $550 million in projected annual sales is material to a company of Ecolab's approximately $15 billion in annual revenue.
Implications for HVAC OEMs
The Ecolab-CoolIT deal is the latest data point confirming that the data centre thermal management market is attracting institutional capital at multiples that dwarf traditional HVAC equipment valuations. Trane acquired LiquidStack, Carrier invested in ZutaCore, and now Ecolab paid $4.75 billion for CoolIT — the largest deal in the category to date. For HVAC OEMs watching these transactions, the message is consistent: the cooling of AI infrastructure is the growth market of the decade, and the companies building positions in it are being rewarded at premium multiples.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ecolab-CoolIT Systems acquisition?
Ecolab announced a $4.75 billion agreement to acquire CoolIT Systems from KKR on March 20, 2026, expected to close in Q3 2026. CoolIT is a pure-play data centre liquid cooling company providing CDUs, cold plates, and direct-to-chip cooling systems for hyperscale and colocation operators. The deal values CoolIT at approximately 29x next-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA.
Why is the KKR-to-Ecolab valuation jump significant?
KKR and Mubadala acquired CoolIT in June 2023 for $270 million. Ecolab is paying $4.75 billion — a 15x return in three years. This valuation trajectory reflects the AI infrastructure investment wave that transformed liquid cooling from a niche data centre technology into a critical, non-optional component of AI compute deployment.
