Johnson Controls 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 critical industrial applications. This transaction will expand Johnson Controls’ leadership and capabilities in the rapidly growing data center cooling segment.
Founded in 2020, Alloy Enterprises is an innovative thermal, mechanical and materials science technology company that focuses on a proprietary platform with advanced direct liquid cooling components that can enable up to 35% improvement in thermal management efficiency, enabling faster and more effective heat removal and reducing pressure drop by up to 75%. This results in a significant reduction in the total energy consumption of the cooling system.
“This acquisition is intended to enable our customers to stay ahead of rapidly evolving demands by adding another critical technology that allows us to optimize the overall thermal management architecture of a data center. It will also strengthen our IT capabilities, which can be extended to the entire Johnson Controls offering, as well as our long-term commitment to leading advanced thermal management solutions for mission-critical applications,” said Lei Schlitz, Vice President and President of Global Products and Solutions at Johnson Controls. “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 our Alloy colleagues to the Johnson Controls team.”
Liquid cooling efficiency
The acquisition marks a further development in Johnson Controls’ broad portfolio of thermal management products and aligns with its strategy of providing highly differentiated cooling solutions for data centers. The addition of Alloy’s capabilities, including a patented manufacturing process that improves the efficiency of liquid cooling of GPU/CPU, memory, network interfaces and more, completes Johnson Controls’ current range of comprehensive cooling and thermal management technologies.
These include its recently launched YDAM magnetic bearing chiller, which offers 3.5 MW of cooling, a 20% increase in capacity density compared to competitive solutions; its YK-HT two-stage economized centrifugal chiller, nearly 30% smaller than alternatives, requiring up to 60% fewer dry chillers and offering the industry’s widest operating range from a single transmission line; its Silent-Aire Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) platform, a scalable liquid cooling solution that offers cooling capacities from 500 kW to more than 10 MW, and its YHAU absorption chillers, designed to recover waste heat and provide thermal management and additional cooling with more than 90% greater efficiency than electric cooling.
The addition of Alloy capabilities completes Johnson Controls’ current range of comprehensive cooling and thermal management technologies.
“We are excited to join Johnson Controls and accelerate the impact of our proven technology,” said Alison Forsyth, Co-Founder and CEO of Alloy Enterprises. “We will continue to work closely to solve the industry’s most pressing challenges in data centers and other mission-critical environments. We look forward to this new chapter and to continuing to grow alongside one of the world’s most respected and experienced leaders in thermal management innovation.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the fiscal third quarter, subject to closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
