SLB Makes $3.4 Billion Bet on AI Data Center Boom
The world’s largest oilfield services company is spending $3.4 billion to expand into the infrastructure behind the AI power boom. SLB said Monday it will acquire German cooling equipment maker Kelvion, more than doubling the revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivering capacity, according to the company. SLB will pay approximately $3.4 billion in cash to acquire Kelvion and assume another $700…
SLB, the world's largest oilfield services company, is planning a $3.4 billion investment into the infrastructure supporting the AI power surge. The company announced on Monday its acquisition of German cooling equipment maker Kelvion, which will more than double the revenue potential per gigawatt of capacity they can deliver. The deal involves a cash payment of approximately $3.4 billion and an assumption of $700 million in debt.
The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory clearances.
SLB anticipates $120 million in annual EBITDA synergies within three years of the deal. Kelvion is projected to generate between $2.3 billion and $2.4 billion in revenue this year, with a significant portion, between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, coming from data centers, which are now its largest and fastest-growing market. Kelvion's heat exchangers and thermal management systems also cater to energy sectors like heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture, and industrial processing.
This acquisition significantly boosts SLB's capacity for data center delivery services. The company expects its Data Center Solutions revenue to grow at a compound annual rate above 90% between 2024 and 2026, with cumulative delivered capacity surpassing 2 GW by the end of 2026. SLB projects the combined data center solutions business, including Kelvion, to generate over $2 billion in revenue and approximately $300 million in adjusted EBITDA pro forma in 2026.
By 2028, SLB aims to reach $4.5 billion to $5 billion in revenue and $700 million to $800 million in adjusted EBITDA from this sector.
The company had begun venturing into data center infrastructure before the Kelvion acquisition, leveraging its engineering skills and relationships with major hyperscalers to establish a new business domain beyond oilfield services. In July, SLB formed a strategic alliance with Liberty Energy, merging their modular data center infrastructure with Liberty's power generation capabilities. The Kelvion acquisition augments this infrastructure business with its cooling and thermal management expertise.
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