Kohlberg acquired a majority interest in Advanced Industrial Devices from Black Bay Partners, expanding the private equity firm’s exposure to data center, water, and power infrastructure.
Advanced Industrial Devices’ existing management team, led by CEO Russell Claybrook, will retain a significant ownership interest in the company.
Founded in 1983, AID develops highly engineered automation and control systems for mission-critical infrastructure.
Its systems control motor speeds, distribute power, and automate equipment used across data centers, water and wastewater systems, power infrastructure, and industrial markets.
AID’s products support equipment including cooling towers, chillers, fans, compressors, and pumps.
The company said its technology can improve equipment reliability while reducing water and electricity consumption.
AID also provides field service, repair, training, and engineering support to utilities and other infrastructure customers.
Kohlberg sees growing demand for the company’s technology as artificial intelligence and increasing computing requirements drive additional investment in data center power and cooling infrastructure.
The firm also sees opportunities associated with the modernization of aging water, utility, and power systems.
AID’s management team plans to use Kohlberg’s support to invest further in employees, operating capabilities, and production capacity.
Black Bay had partnered with AID for the previous four years.
Harris Williams advised AID, while Baird advised Kohlberg. Ropes & Gray and Kirkland & Ellis advised Kohlberg, while Jones Walker represented AID and Black Bay.
Kohlberg manages approximately $18 billion on behalf of investors globally.
KEY QUOTES:
“This partnership marks a pivotal moment in our growth story and positions us to accelerate our next phase of expansion. Kohlberg brings extensive experience supporting and scaling companies that serve critical infrastructure markets and shares our commitment to engineering excellence, customer service and operational reliability.”
Russell Claybrook, CEO of Advanced Industrial Devices
“As demand for power increases across data centers and other critical infrastructure, the challenge for operators is not only power availability, but also power reliability. AID directly helps customers overcome these challenges.”
Benjamin Mao, Senior Partner at Kohlberg
“Rising compute demand is driving a real shift toward more advanced cooling infrastructure in data centers, and that’s exactly where AID’s solutions play a critical role.”
Ben Yu, Partner at Kohlberg
