SLB expands data center business with $3.4 billion deal for Kelvion

Adds details, background and shares throughout

Aug 31 (Reuters) - SLB SLB.N on Monday said it will acquire cooling equipment maker Kelvion from Apollo Global APO.N and funds managed by Triton for $3.4 billion in cash, expanding its data center business as rapid AI adoption drives demand for power and cooling infrastructure.

The world's largest oilfield services company will also assume about $700 million of Kelvion's debt under the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

SLB said the acquisition will expand its data center business and the range of equipment it can supply to customers, while more than doubling its revenue opportunity per gigawatt of delivered capacity with the addition of Kelvion's thermal management technology.

The company expects its combined data center solutions business to generate revenue of $4.5 billion to $5 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $700 million to $800 million in 2028. Data centers represent Kelvion's largest and fastest-growing end market, SLB said.

The U.S. oilfield services sector is also increasingly adopting digital technologies to manage growing volumes of geological, production and infrastructure data as it looks to cut costs, improve reliability and reduce emissions.

Kelvion is majority owned by Apollo-managed funds, while funds advised by Triton hold a minority interest in the cooling equipment maker.

Meanwhile, SLB has partnered with Liberty Energy LBRT.N to supply modular parts and power to data centers and teamed up with Nvidia NVIDIA NVDA.O to create a platform to help energy companies apply AI to vast troves of operational data.

SLB shares rose 2% in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))