SLB has agreed to buy Kelvion, a thermal management and heat exchange technology supplier, for approximately $3.4 billion in cash plus the assumption of about $0.7 billion in debt. SLB said the price represents roughly 11 times Kelvion's estimated 2026 EBITDA before synergies, or about 8.5 times EBITDA once expected annual synergies are included.

SLB is buying Kelvion from Apollo-managed funds, which hold the majority stake, and funds advised by Triton, the minority owner. The deal still needs regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, and SLB expects it to close in the first half of 2027.

What Kelvion brings

Kelvion was founded more than 100 years ago and supplies thermal management and heat exchange technology to data center, energy and industrial customers. SLB expects Kelvion to generate revenue of about $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion in 2026, with adjusted EBITDA of roughly $350 million to $400 million. Data centers are Kelvion's largest and fastest-growing market, with revenue there expected to reach $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in 2026. Kelvion also holds positions in heat pumps, renewables, carbon capture and processing solutions.

SLB's data center build-out

SLB's Data Center Solutions business has expanded quickly, with revenue growing at a compound annual rate above 90% between 2024 and 2026. SLB expects its cumulative delivered capacity to pass 2 gigawatts by the end of the year. The business combines modular manufacturing, offsite construction, engineering and digital tools to build data center infrastructure from design through system integration, an approach SLB says can cut time to operation by up to 40%.

Deal terms

  • Price: $3.4 billion in cash, plus $0.7 billion in assumed debt
  • Multiple: about 11x 2026 EBITDA before synergies, about 8.5x including synergies
  • Sellers: Apollo-managed funds (majority owner), funds advised by Triton (minority owner)
  • Expected close: first half of 2027
  • Expected synergies: about $120 million in annual EBITDA within three years

Executives on the deal

SLB chief executive Olivier Le Peuch said "AI is driving the most significant infrastructure investment cycle in our lifetime." Le Peuch said the acquisition expands SLB's addressable market and more than doubles its revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity. Gavin Rennick, president of SLB's New Energy and Industrial business, said "thermal management is central to that challenge" of operating increasingly complex, energy-intensive data centers.

Combined targets through 2028

SLB and Kelvion together are expected to generate more than $2 billion in data center revenue and about $300 million in adjusted EBITDA on a pro-forma 2026 basis. SLB is targeting $4.5 billion to $5 billion in revenue and $700 million to $800 million in adjusted EBITDA for the combined data center business in 2028. SLB expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share and free cash flow per share within the first 12 months after closing, and said it will keep net debt-to-EBITDA within its through-cycle target of up to 1.5 times after the transaction. SLB also reaffirmed plans to return more than $4 billion to shareholders in 2026 through dividends and buybacks.