Vertiv has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire E&I Engineering Ireland Limited and its affiliate, Powerbar Gulf LLC.
A deal was agreed for approximately “$1.8 billion (£1.3bn) in upfront consideration plus the potential for up to $200 million (£145m) in cash, based on achieving certain 2022 profit milestones”.
The acquisition completes Vertiv's data centre offering and expands its addressable market by $7bn (£5bn), according to the company.
“The acquisition of E&I represents a key milestone in Vertiv’s strategy, completing our portfolio of in-building power train offerings for data centres and vital commercial and industrial markets,” said Rob Johnson, Vertiv’s CEO.
“The combination will amplify Vertiv’s growth opportunities and profitability while enabling Vertiv to deliver differentiated solutions that manage a customer’s entire power infrastructure as an integrated system. We look forward to adding E&I’s highly skilled team members to the Vertiv family. Our companies share a strong culture of engineering excellence and innovation and a passion for serving our customers with differentiated products and service,” he added.
“While this deal marks the first acquisition by Vertiv since becoming a public company, our team has thoughtfully followed acquisition best practices during the process of identification, valuation, due diligence and integration planning,” said Dave Cote, Vertiv’s executive chairman.
“E&I represents a unique opportunity for Vertiv and it fits well in the Vertiv portfolio. I am excited about the potential of these two great businesses coming together as one,” Cote added.
E&I was founded in 1986 by Philip O’Doherty. It has become known for its in-house integrated power solution designs and tailored technology offering, and has annual sales of approximately $460m (£332m) and 2,100 employees.
Philip O’Doherty, founder and CEO of E&I, said: ”This transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses and represents a great outcome for E&I’s employees and customers.”
“We are excited to join the Vertiv team and to continue to grow our business through Vertiv’s global reach, strong channel presence and great customer positioning in critical digital infrastructures.”
