SLB has agreed to acquire Kelvion, a global provider of thermal management and heat exchange technologies, for approximately $3.4 billion in cash, as the energy technology company seeks to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding data centre infrastructure market.

The transaction, which includes the assumption of about $0.7 billion in debt, values Kelvion at approximately 11 times estimated 2026 EBITDA before synergies and 8.5 times after expected synergies.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Kelvion, which has more than a century of operating history, is expected to generate $2.3 billion-$2.4 billion in revenue and $350 million-$400 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2026.

Data centres are its largest and fastest-growing market, with revenue expected to reach $1.2 billion-$1.3 billion this year.

SLB said the acquisition will more than double its revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered data centre capacity and broaden its thermal management capabilities.

Its Data Centre Solutions business is projected to grow revenue at a compound annual rate exceeding 90 per cent from 2024 to 2026.

The combined business is expected to generate more than $2 billion in data centre revenue and about $300 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2026.

SLB is targeting $4.5 billion-$5 billion in revenue and $700 million-$800 million in adjusted EBITDA from the business by 2028.

SLB expects $120 million in annual EBITDA synergies within three years and says the deal will be accretive to earnings and free cash flow per share within 12 months of closing.

“Data centres are becoming more sophisticated and energy-intensive, and customers are increasingly looking for partners that can optimise 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, optimising thermal efficiency, and more directly embedding thermal management into our modular infrastructure offering.” -OGN/TradeArabia News Service