Ecolab announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CoolIT Systems, a high-growth, high-margin leader in liquid cooling technology for next-gen AI data centers. CoolIT is expected to generate approximately $550 million in sales over the next 12 months. With CoolIT's rapid sales growth, the acquisition is expected to significantly strengthen the company's Global High-Tech growth engine and accelerate Global Water's organic sales growth rate by 2% and Ecolab's total organic sales growth rate by 1%. The acquisition, from funds managed by KKR, positions Ecolab as a comprehensive cooling solutions provider by advancing its capabilities across the rapidly growing data center market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ecolab will pay approximately $4.75 billion in cash at the closing of the transaction, subject to customary adjustments. This represents 29x and 24x estimated next 12-month and 2027 adjusted EBITDA for CoolIT.