HVAC company company AirX Climate Solutions (ACS) has acquired data center air-conditioning company AboveAir Technologies.
The Oklahoma-based company (formerly known as Airxcel) said AboveAir will become a new division within ACS and expand its offering to the data center market. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, AboveAir is an original equipment manufacturer of computer room air conditioners.
ACS's CEO, Rick Aldridge, said: "We're excited to welcome AboveAir president Matt Miller and his team to ACS. We look forward to partnering with them to further enhance the strong business they have developed. We will build upon AboveAir's strategic and market strengths in data centers while leveraging ACS's expertise and resources to accelerate growth, as we have with our other HVAC specialty brands. Adding AboveAir to our portfolio of companies will make us all stronger as we continue to focus on delivering cooling solutions for mission-critical equipment."
Miller, who founded AboveAir, will lead ACS's data center growth strategy and report into Aldridge.
He will also become a shareholder in ACS, alongside other members of the management team and Gryphon Investors, a middle-market private equity firm that invested in ACS in November 2023.
AboveAir’s Miller said: "AboveAir Technologies has provided innovative HVAC product solutions for commercial and industrial applications since 2003. We're thrilled to join the ACS team as our strategies and culture complement each other well, and together our combined capabilities will enable us to accelerate growth within AboveAir's core data center market while broadening the ACS combined regional footprint to fuel faster growth."
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, AirX is a full-service specialty HVAC solutions provider, offering design, manufacturing, startup, commissioning, repair, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to industries including data centers and telecoms. Acquired by L Catterton in 2018, the company has been owned by Gryphon Investors since last year.
AirX’s other brands include Marvair, Customer Air Products, Eubank, Industrial Climate Engineering, Dynaline, and Specific Systems.
With the addition of AboveAir, ACS will have more than 700 team members across five manufacturing facilities in the United States. The company said it will invest in manufacturing capacity at AboveAir's new 100,000-square-foot facility in Frederick.
AboveAir is the third acquisition by ACS, and the company said it will continue to pursue other M&A opportunities in the specialty HVAC market.
Baird served as financial advisor to ACS and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor. Bengur Bryan served as financial advisor to AboveAir and Miles & Stockbridge served as legal advisor.
