SLB is moving deeper into the physical infrastructure supporting the artificial intelligence boom with an agreement to acquire Kelvion, a global provider of thermal management and heat exchange technologies. The $3.4 billion cash transaction, alongside the assumption of about $0.7 billion in debt, gives SLB a broader position in the systems that determine how quickly and efficiently new data center capacity can come online. Kelvion brings a large thermal-management portfolio and a rapidly expanding data center business to SLB’s existing Data Center Solutions operation. The deal marks a strategic shift beyond modular infrastructure toward a more integrated role spanning critical systems inside AI facilities.

SLB Targets Thermal Management as AI Infrastructure Expands

“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.”

Founded more than a century ago, Kelvion serves data center, energy and industrial customers through technologies designed for cooling and heat transfer. Its portfolio places the company at the intersection of rising AI infrastructure investment and the broader transformation of energy systems, where thermal efficiency increasingly affects operating economics and reliability. Kelvion expects 2026 revenue of approximately $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of roughly $350 million to $400 million. Data centers represent its largest and fastest-growing end market, with expected 2026 revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.

Data Centers Become Kelvion’s Growth Engine

Kelvion’s opportunity extends beyond hyperscale and AI facilities into energy and industrial applications. The company has established positions in heat pumps, renewable energy, carbon capture and processing solutions, where thermal management can influence efficiency, performance and reliability. That diversification gives SLB exposure to demand drivers outside the data center market while adding technologies that can complement its existing infrastructure capabilities. The acquisition therefore connects AI-driven computing growth with longer-term investment in energy-intensive industrial systems.

SLB’s Data Center Solutions business has already expanded at an exceptional pace, with revenue expected to post a compound annual growth rate above 90% from 2024 through 2026. The business expects cumulative delivered capacity to exceed 2 gigawatts by the end of 2026, supported by modular manufacturing, offsite construction, engineering and digital capabilities. SLB’s approach covers infrastructure delivery from design through system integration and can reduce onsite construction complexity. The company says its modular model can accelerate time to operation by up to 40%.

Integrated Cooling Becomes the Next Battleground

“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.”

The strategic logic reaches beyond adding another product line. AI servers increasingly demand sophisticated cooling architectures as computing density rises, making thermal management a central constraint on data center expansion rather than a supporting engineering function. Kelvion gives SLB greater control over that layer of infrastructure while creating opportunities to combine cooling technologies with modular construction and system integration. As a result, SLB can pursue a larger share of the infrastructure economics attached to each gigawatt of new capacity.

$3.4 Billion Deal Sets 2027 Closing Target

SLB will acquire Kelvion from Apollo-managed funds, its majority owner, and funds advised by Triton, which holds a minority stake. The transaction values the business at approximately 11 times estimated 2026 EBITDA before synergies and about 8.5 times EBITDA after incorporating expected annual run-rate synergies. SLB expects the deal to increase both earnings per share and free cash flow per share during the first 12 months after closing. Regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions remain outstanding, with completion expected during the first half of 2027.

SLB expects roughly $120 million of annual EBITDA synergies within three years, combining cost efficiencies with incremental revenue opportunities. On a pro-forma basis, the combined businesses expect to generate more than $2 billion in data center revenue and approximately $300 million in adjusted EBITDA during 2026. Looking further ahead, SLB targets $4.5 billion to $5 billion of revenue and $700 million to $800 million of adjusted EBITDA for its combined data center solutions business in 2028. Those targets point to an aggressive expansion strategy as AI infrastructure spending moves from individual projects toward a broader global buildout.

SLB Keeps Capital Returns in Focus

Despite the size of the acquisition, SLB expects to maintain a strong investment-grade balance sheet, with net debt to EBITDA remaining within its previously stated through-cycle ceiling of 1.5 times. The company also reaffirmed its plan to return more than $4 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in 2026. Formal 2027 targets will come through the company’s annual planning process, but SLB expects shareholder returns to remain at least comparable with 2026 levels. The balance between acquisition spending, infrastructure expansion and capital returns will remain an important measure of how effectively SLB can scale its data center ambitions without weakening its financial discipline.