St. Paul-based Ecolab is reportedly closing in on a multibillion-dollar deal to buy CoolIT, a specialist in liquid cooling for high-density, AI-ready data centers. The potential price tag is pegged between about $4.5 billion and $5 billion, a move that would thrust the 100-year-old company deeper into the infrastructure feeding generative AI growth.
According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, which cited the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the negotiations say the talks put CoolIT’s valuation in that $4.5 billion to $5 billion range. The outlets report that the exact terms and timing are still fuzzy, and it is not yet clear whether the companies have actually inked a definitive agreement.
Ecolab's Data Center Bet
Ecolab has been quietly building a data center cooling operation under its Nalco Water unit, and last year it rolled out an integrated Cooling as a Service offering that bundles chemistry, monitoring tools, and coolant distribution hardware. The idea is to pitch hyperscalers on a one-stop package for keeping power-hungry AI racks from overheating.
Ecolab's own materials spotlight that strategy, including a push into direct-to-chip liquid cooling and real-time monitoring of the coolant itself.
Who CoolIT Is
CoolIT, founded in Calgary in 2001, focuses on direct liquid and rack-level coolant distribution systems that let data center operators cram more GPUs and CPUs into each rack without turning the room into an oven. The company picked up private equity backing from KKR in 2023 and now sells commercial systems aimed at hyperscalers and server manufacturers, including high-capacity coolant distribution units.
BusinessWire and CoolIT’s own product materials detail the company’s evolution and catalog.
What It Could Mean Locally
For the Twin Cities, an Ecolab buyout of CoolIT would tighten the company’s focus on technology that touches both energy use and water consumption, two hot-button policy issues in Minnesota. Ecolab has already been ramping up its local footprint, including a proposed $500 million overhaul of its R&D campus in Eagan that is meant to lock in roughly 1,000 jobs.
campus makeover in Eagan coverage has highlighted how that project fits into Ecolab’s broader regional strategy.
Why Liquid Cooling Is Getting Hot
Direct liquid cooling has quickly become the favorite option for AI-heavy data centers because traditional air-based systems struggle to dissipate the intense heat coming off modern GPU-packed racks. Industry analysts and market researchers are projecting sharp growth in liquid cooling technology as AI workloads spread.
Data Center Dynamics and work by the International Energy Agency on AI and energy use both point to rising pressure on power and cooling infrastructure that is driving demand for more efficient solutions.
For now, the exact structure and timing of any deal remain under wraps, and it is unclear when negotiations might wrap up. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that neither Ecolab nor CoolIT immediately offered comment.
