Johnson Controls has signed an agreement to acquire Alloy Enterprises, a Boston-based thermal management technology company, in a move aimed at strengthening its leadership in the fast-growing data center cooling market and accelerating innovation aligned with the AI-driven economy.
The transaction supports Johnson Controls’ strategy to expand its differentiated cooling capabilities as global compute demands increase. Alloy Enterprises, founded in 2020, specializes in advanced thermal, mechanical and materials sciences technologies, including a proprietary platform featuring direct liquid cooling components designed for high-performance data centers and other mission-critical industrial applications.
Alloy’s platform is capable of delivering up to a 35% improvement in thermal management efficiency, enabling faster and more effective heat removal. Its technology can also reduce pressure drop by up to 75%, allowing fluid to flow more easily and lowering overall cooling system energy use. The company’s patented Stack Forging manufacturing process produces leak-tight, single-piece components with embedded microgeometries that maximize heat transfer while reducing pumping power and energy consumption.
The acquisition enhances Johnson Controls’ existing end-to-end thermal management portfolio, which includes the YDAM magnetic bearing chiller delivering 3.5 MW of cooling and offering a 20% capacity density increase versus competing solutions; the YK-HT two-stage economized centrifugal chiller, which is nearly 30% smaller than alternatives and requires up to 60% fewer dry coolers; the Silent-Aire Coolant Distribution Unit platform with scalable liquid cooling capacities ranging from 500kW to over 10MW; and YHAU absorption chillers designed to recover waste heat and deliver additional cooling more than 90% more efficiently than electrical cooling systems.
By integrating Alloy’s liquid cooling innovations for GPUs, CPUs, memory modules, network interfaces, power electronics and semiconductor tools, Johnson Controls aims to optimize overall data center thermal management architectures and help customers accelerate time to market with integrated cooling technologies.
The transaction is expected to close in the company’s fiscal third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed.
KEY QUOTES:
“This acquisition is about enabling our customers to stay ahead of fast-changing compute demands by adding another core technology that enables us to optimize the overall thermal management architecture of a data center. It will also strengthen our core technology capabilities that can scale across the Johnson Controls portfolio and reinforces our long-term commitment to lead more broadly in advanced thermal management solutions for mission critical applications. 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 the talented Alloy colleagues to the Johnson Controls team.”
Lei Schlitz, Vice President And President, Global Products & Solutions, Johnson Controls
“We’re excited to join Johnson Controls and accelerate the impact of our unique technology. We’ll continue to work closely to solve the industry’s most urgent challenges in data centers and other mission-critical environments. We look forward to this new chapter and continuing to scale with one of the world’s most respected and experienced leaders in thermal management innovation.”
Alison Forsyth, Co-Founder And CEO, Alloy Enterprises
