Ecolab to acquire CoolIT Systems for $4.75 billion USD

Ecolab is acquiring Calgary’s CoolIT Systems, a leader in liquid cooling technology for data centres, the company announced on March 20.

“This acquisition expands our role in serving the AI ecosystem.”

Based in Minnesota, Ecolab, which has traditionally provided products relating to commercial and industrial water treatment and sanitation, will pay approximately $4.75 billion USD ($6.52 billion CAD) for the acquisition.

Founded in 2001 in Calgary, CoolIT designs and manufactures high-performance cooling systems, including coolant distribution units and direct-to-chip technologies that use liquid—rather than air—to cool CPUs and GPUs by circulating coolant directly across chips via cold plates.

Initially, the company made cooling technology for use in high-end gaming computers, before expanding its business into supercomputers, and eventually into AI. With a surge in demand related to a global buildout of data centres and adoption of AI, the company has seen its income jump, with revenues climbing from $60 million to $155 million in 2024.

CoolIT was put on the market earlier this month, after global private equity firm KKR bought it in 2023. KKR issued its own announcement of the sale on March 25, outlining that the sale represented one of the firm’s largest realizations having generated around 15 times its original investment.

KRR said it intends to pay out cash to CoolIT Systems employees once the deal is finalized, telling BetaKit that when KKR acquired CoolIT Systems, employees became owners in the business through KKR’s broad-based ownership program, which grants equity to employees across KKR’s portfolio.

Liidia Liuksila, a communications official with KKR, said all 650 employees will receive payouts, with amounts varying based on the tenure of each employee but ranging from one year’s salary to up to eight years annual salary for longer serving employees.

KKR also noted that Mubadala Investment Company, a state-owned investment firm from the United Arab Emirates that acts as one of the sovereign wealth funds of the government of Abu Dhabi, co-invested in CoolIT Systems. KKR declined to comment on what percentage of the $4.75 billion sale price would go to Mubadala.

In a press release, Ecolab said the acquisition is expected to “significantly strengthen the company’s Globe High-Tech growth engine,” a business division focused on advanced water management, including in the AI industry. The company said it expects CoolIT to generate roughly $550 million USD in sales over the next 12 months, positioning Ecolab as a “comprehensive cool solutions provider” in relation to the rapidly growing data centre market.

“This acquisition expands our role in serving the AI ecosystem—semiconductor fabs that manufacture chips, power plants that fuel the chips, and data centres that utilize the chips—and positions Ecolab as the partner that the world’s largest technology companies rely on,” Ecolab chairman and CEO Christophe Beck.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, with financing coming from new transaction debt, according to Ecolab’s press release.

BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.

Feature image courtesy CoolIT Systems on LinkedIn.

UPDATE (03/25/2026): This story has been updated with additional details regarding KKR’s role in the sale.