Blackstone has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Flow Control Holdings from Audax Private Equity, expanding its exposure to the rapidly growing data center liquid cooling market.
The acquisition will be made through private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone Capital Partners and Blackstone Energy Transition Partners.
Audax will retain a minority equity interest in Flow Control Holdings following the transaction and will continue partnering with Blackstone, management and the company.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Flow Control Holdings, headquartered in Cincinnati, provides engineered flow control solutions and components used across data center liquid cooling as well as food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications.
Its data center components are used by original equipment manufacturers and hyperscalers in coolant distribution units, in-row manifolds and secondary fluid networks.
Liquid cooling has become increasingly important as artificial intelligence infrastructure drives higher computing densities and thermal requirements inside data centers.
Compared with traditional air cooling, liquid cooling can improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve power usage effectiveness while supporting increasingly powerful computing systems.
Blackstone described AI infrastructure development as one of its highest-conviction investment themes and plans to support Flow Control Holdings’ capacity expansion as demand for liquid cooling accelerates.
Flow Control Holdings has invested significantly in the data center cooling market during the past four years.
Under Audax ownership, the company invested in production and distribution facilities and completed 10 acquisitions that expanded its capabilities across data center cooling, food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Houlihan Lokey and Jefferies served as financial advisors to Flow Control Holdings, while Ropes & Gray served as legal counsel.
William Blair, UBS and Goldman Sachs served as financial advisors to Blackstone, while Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel.
Blackstone manages more than $1.3 trillion in assets. Its Blackstone Energy Transition Partners strategy has committed approximately $30 billion of equity globally across energy transition investments.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe that FCH has enormous tailwinds for continued growth as the latest generations of high-performance AI infrastructure increasingly rely on liquid cooling technology for significantly improved energy and chip efficiency.”
Bilal Khan, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Mark Zhu, Managing Director at Blackstone
“We’re thrilled to partner with Blackstone as we enter our next chapter of growth. Over the past four years, we’ve invested significantly to develop a leading position in the data center cooling market supporting our OEM customers and hyperscalers.”
Scott Kerns, CEO of Flow Control Holdings
“We believe the sale of FCH represents a tremendous outcome for the incredibly dedicated and talented team at FCH as well as our investors.”
Don Bramley, Partner at Audax Private Equity
