Vertiv To Acquire UtilityInnovation Group For $1.45B

Vertiv has agreed to acquire UtilityInnovation Holdings, which operates as UtilityInnovation Group (UIG), in a deal valued at approximately $1.45 billion in cash at closing, with an additional $1.15 billion potentially payable depending on the company’s performance.

The acquisition will give Vertiv access to UIG’s microgrid solutions, power controls and behind-the-meter power architecture capabilities, as data centre operators face growing challenges securing sufficient electricity for new facilities.

Under the agreement, Vertiv Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vertiv Holdings, will acquire UIG. The transaction is expected to close subject to customary conditions.

The initial purchase price represents about 13 times UIG’s expected 2027 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). The additional consideration will depend on UIG achieving specified EBITDA targets over 12- and 24-month periods following the transaction.

The deal comes as the availability of electricity becomes an increasingly important factor in where and how data centres are developed. The rapid expansion of AI workloads has increased demand for data centre capacity, while grid connection processes in several markets can take years, creating pressure on operators to find alternative ways of bringing power to new facilities.

UIG specialises in microgrid systems and behind-the-meter power architectures that can combine grid connections with onsite generation and energy storage. These systems can allow data centre sites to operate with a greater degree of independence from the utility grid and manage multiple power sources.

Gio Albertazzi, Chief Executive Officer, Vertiv, said, “For AI data centre operators, competitive advantage increasingly depends on how quickly they can move from site selection to first token,” said Gio Albertazzi, Chief Executive Officer, Vertiv. “Vertiv has the most complete power and cooling portfolio in the industry. With UIG, we anticipate extending that portfolio upstream to the utility interconnect and onsite power sources, creating a coordinated architecture from source to chip without tying customers to a single generation technology or supplier.”

Albertazzi continued: “Together, we anticipate being better positioned to support grid-connected sites, bridge-to-grid deployments and islanded sites supplied by onsite generation, while reducing complexity from site planning through rack-level deployment. This broader capability can help customers accelerate time to power and, ultimately, time to first token.”

Sidney Hinton, Founder and CEO of UIG, said the acquisition would bring the company’s microgrid and power architecture expertise into Vertiv’s wider infrastructure business.

“UIG was founded to solve increasingly complex power challenges for data centre operators through flexible, technology-agnostic architectures. Vertiv’s global scale, critical infrastructure portfolio and service capabilities make it a strong strategic fit for what we have built. We believe this combination can expand the reach of UIG’s microgrid controls and power architecture expertise and create greater value for customers as power becomes an increasingly critical constraint on data centre growth.”

The transaction reflects a broader shift in the data centre industry, where access to power is becoming a constraint alongside land, cooling and network connectivity. Operators developing large AI facilities are increasingly considering onsite generation, battery storage and microgrids as ways to supplement grid supply or bridge the gap while waiting for permanent grid connections.

For Vertiv, the acquisition expands its involvement in data centre power infrastructure from equipment within facilities towards the point where sites connect to the electricity grid and manage additional power sources.

UIG has worked on microgrid deployments for data centres in the United States and Europe and provides systems designed to coordinate multiple power sources, including grid connections, onsite generation and energy storage.

Vertiv said it expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share during the first year after completion.