Johnson Controls, a global technology leader in energy efficiency, decarbonization, thermal management and mission-critical performance, has signed an agreement to acquire Alloy Enterprises, a Boston-based company specializing in a next-generation thermal management platform for high-performance data centers and other mission critical industrial applications. The move will expand Johnson Controls’ leadership and capabilities in the high growth data center cooling segment.
Founded in 2020, Alloy Enterprises is a thermal, mechanical and materials sciences technology innovator focused on a proprietary platform with advanced direct liquid cooling components that can enable up to a 35% improvement in thermal management efficiency — allowing heat to be removed faster and more effectively, and reduce pressure drop by up to 75% so fluid can flow more easily. This results in materially lower overall cooling system energy use.
“This acquisition is about enabling our customers to stay ahead of fast-changing compute demands by adding another core technology that enables us to optimize the overall thermal management architecture of a data center. It will also strengthen our core technology capabilities that can scale across the Johnson Controls portfolio and reinforces our long-term commitment to lead more broadly in advanced thermal management solutions for mission critical applications,” said Lei Schlitz, vice president and president, Global Products & Solutions. “With the addition of Alloy Enterprises, we are poised to set new standards in cooling efficiency and capacity and help customers accelerate time to market with the right integrated technologies. We look forward to welcoming the talented Alloy colleagues to the Johnson Controls team.”
The acquisition further advances Johnson Controls’ extensive thermal management portfolio and aligns with its ambition to deliver highly differentiated cooling solutions for data centers. The addition of Alloy’s capabilities, including a proprietary manufacturing process that advances the liquid cooling efficiency of GPUs/CPUs, memory, network interfaces and more, complements Johnson Controls’ existing range of end-to-end cooling technologies. These include its recently launched YDAM magnetic bearing chiller — delivering 3.5 MW of cooling, a 20% capacity density increase versus competing solutions, its YK-HT two-stage economized centrifugal chiller — almost 30% smaller than alternatives, requiring up to 60% fewer dry coolers and delivering the industry’s widest operating range from a single driveline, its Silent-Aire Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) platform — a scalable liquid cooling solution offering cooling capacities from 500kW to over 10MW, and its YHAU absorption chillers — designed to recover waste heat and deliver additional cooling more than 90% more efficiently than electrical cooling.
“We’re excited to join Johnson Controls and accelerate the impact of our unique technology,” said Alison Forsyth, co-founder and CEO of Alloy Enterprises. “We’ll continue to work closely to solve the industry’s most urgent challenges in data centers and other mission-critical environments. We look forward to this new chapter and continuing to scale with one of the world’s most respected and experienced leaders in thermal management innovation.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in fiscal Q3, subject to closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed.
