Ecolab has announced it has closed its acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a leading provider of direct liquid cooling technology for high-density data centers.
The deal closed ahead of schedule, with Ecolab confirming it has formally welcomed the CoolIT team into the company.
Ecolab acquired CoolIT for approximately $4.75 billion. The company noted that CoolIT’s year-to-date sales have grown more than 100%, fueled by surging demand for liquid cooling in AI-driven data center infrastructure.
With the acquisition, Ecolab is pushing deeper into what it calls the fastest-growing segment of global technology infrastructure: AI computing. The company is positioning itself as a full-stack provider across the AI value chain, linking water treatment, power systems, and now direct liquid cooling.
“At the heart of AI is water. We need water to produce chips, power chips, and cool chips,” the company said, highlighting its expanded role from semiconductor-grade water systems to data center thermal management. The combined platform is intended to help customers scale AI workloads while improving efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
Ecolab also outlined plans for a major product launch at Supercomputing in November 2026 in Chicago, where it expects to debut a new integrated cooling system under its 3D TRASAR platform. The system will combine CoolIT hardware, including cooling distribution units and cold plates, with digital optimization and advanced cooling fluids.
The company says the platform will give operators real-time visibility into system performance, aiming to reduce cooling energy demand and improve power efficiency. It also emphasizes a closed-loop design intended to reduce water usage toward a near-zero footprint. Ecolab said the technology is designed for advanced AI architectures such as NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell.
"NVIDIA has collaborated with Ecolab and CoolIT across a broad range of liquid-cooling initiatives, including coolant qualification, coolant health monitoring, cooling infrastructure development, and next-generation AI factory technologies,” said Ali Heydari, technical director and distinguished engineer at NVIDIA, and Saket Karajgikar, senior engineering manager and ASME fellow at NVIDIA.
“Through collaborations spanning NVIDIA engineering labs, research programs, and large-scale AI infrastructure deployments, Ecolab and CoolIT have consistently demonstrated strong technical expertise, innovation, and responsiveness.”
Ecolab said it will continue working with hyperscale customers and ecosystem partners across power and water systems to support next-generation AI data center design focused on performance and efficiency.
Financially, the company highlighted the growing scale of its Global High-Tech business, which has expanded from roughly $150 million in annual sales in 2021 to nearly $1.5 billion in 2026 annualized sales following the acquisitions of Ovivo and CoolIT. Ecolab is targeting $4 billion in annual sales for the segment by 2030, with operating margins of 25%, calling it its largest growth engine.
“With Ecolab’s breakthrough solutions across fabs, power and data centers, AI can now scale more rapidly while respecting communities, the environment and natural resources,” said Christophe Beck, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ecolab.
“With strong and consistent core businesses and new growth engines in high tech and life sciences that capture major new trends, we have never been better positioned to deliver on our growth commitments.”
