Carrollton’s homegrown cooling specialist LiquidStack is getting snapped up by Trane Technologies, in a deal that ties one of North Texas’ more quietly fast-growing hardware players to a global HVAC heavyweight betting big on AI-era data centers.
Trane is set to acquire LiquidStack, the Carrollton-based maker of high-performance liquid cooling systems for data centers. The company says the deal will tuck LiquidStack’s manufacturing, engineering and R&D teams into Trane’s Commercial HVAC business, with an eye on scaling its cooling tech for AI-scale workloads. LiquidStack CEO Joe Capes is slated to join Trane’s leadership team and will continue to lead the LiquidStack business.
The definitive agreement was announced in a company press release, with the transaction expected to close in early 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed. According to Trane Technologies, LiquidStack will operate within the Commercial HVAC business unit of Trane’s Americas segment once the deal is finalized.
For North Texas, it is a keep, not a loss. LiquidStack moved its global headquarters from the Boston area to Carrollton in 2024, then opened a second Carrollton manufacturing facility in 2025 to grow production and R&D. As Dallas Innovates reported, the company’s Carrollton footprint has been central to its hiring and manufacturing plans.
What LiquidStack Builds
LiquidStack focuses on cooling tech for the hottest part of the data center: the chips themselves. The company makes direct-to-chip coolant distribution units (CDUs) and immersion cooling systems for high-density servers. In June 2025 it rolled out the GigaModular CDU, a modular platform the company says can scale to 10MW of cooling capacity.
The GigaModular is marketed as a pay-as-you-grow option for hyperscale and AI workloads, with production slated for LiquidStack’s Carrollton facilities. In a product launch announcement, LiquidStack described the GigaModular as a “future-proof” CDU platform.
Why Trane Is Buying In
Trane is framing the acquisition as a way to stretch its cooling reach from big central chillers and controls all the way down to the chip. That is exactly where data centers are feeling the heat as GPU and CPU power densities climb.
“Rising chip-level power and heat densities are redefining thermal management requirements,” Holly Paeper said in Trane’s announcement, as the company laid out how LiquidStack’s direct-to-chip and immersion technologies would bolster its end-to-end data center solutions. According to Trane Technologies, the purchase fits its playbook of adding targeted technologies that can be scaled globally.
Local Impact And Next Steps
For Carrollton, the deal keeps advanced manufacturing and R&D inside city limits and could add fuel to the hiring that followed LiquidStack’s relocation. As Dallas Innovates noted, the company opened its U.S. headquarters at 1628 W. Crosby Road in 2024, then added a 17,000-square-foot second facility in 2025.
LiquidStack also pulled in a $20 million Series B extension from Tiger Global in September 2024 to expand manufacturing and its direct-to-chip roadmap, according to LiquidStack. Trane says integration of the business will run through its Commercial HVAC Americas unit, with Joe Capes joining its leadership ranks as the LiquidStack operation scales under the new owner.
Market Reaction
Industry watchers see strategy, not just shopping. Analysts told Investing.com that the deal strengthens Trane’s position in the rapidly growing data center thermal management market and lines up with its other targeted moves in the sector.
The acquisition also underscores a broader shift in how data centers are cooled. As AI chips demand more power, operators are steadily leaning into liquid cooling to squeeze out higher efficiency and cut back on energy and water use. LiquidStack’s new home inside Trane looks set to be one of the ways that trend shows up on the ground in Carrollton.
