KKR is exploring a sale of CoolIT Systems, the data centre cooling specialist, in a process advisers are running that could value the business at more than $3 billion, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
CoolIT designs and manufactures liquid cooling technologies used to cool artificial intelligence and cloud computing servers, a niche that has attracted buyer interest as data centre demand rises.
The FT said KKR was targeting a roughly 10-fold return, seeking a price above $3 billion after buying a majority stake when the company was valued at $270 million in 2023; Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala owns a minority stake, the report added. Reuters separately reported the sale process is at a preliminary stage and that multiple potential bidders have been earmarked.
Both reports said CoolIT and KKR declined to comment and that there were no guarantees the process will lead to a transaction, with Reuters noting it could not immediately verify the reports.
The recap
- KKR is exploring a sale process for CoolIT Systems.
- Potential price tag is expected to exceed $3 billion.
- Sale process is at an early, preliminary stage.