Trane Technologies Acquires Liquid Cooling Specialist Stellar Energy Digital
December 3, 2025
In a strategic move to bolster its position in the high-growth data center cooling market, Trane Technologies has announced the acquisition of Stellar Energy Digital, a leading provider of liquid-to-chip cooling solutions. The transaction underscores the intensifying demand for advanced thermal management technologies driven by the proliferation of power-hungry AI and high-performance computing workloads.
The HVAC and cooling giant entered into a definitive agreement this week with Stellar Energy International, Ltd. to acquire its Digital business unit. While financial terms were not disclosed, the deal is expected to close in early 2026. The acquisition includes Stellar Energy Digital's operations, its brand, and its team of approximately 700 employees based primarily at two assembly facilities in Jacksonville, Florida. The business will be integrated into Trane Americas' commercial HVAC division but will retain its existing sales model and customer relationships.
Stellar Energy Digital specializes in designing and building modular cooling plants, central utility plants, and coolant distribution units for liquid-cooled data centers. This acquisition significantly expands Trane's capabilities in direct liquid cooling, a critical technology for managing heat densities that far exceed the limits of traditional air cooling. Peter Gibson, Executive Chairman of Stellar Energy International, stated, "Transitioning the Digital business to Trane Technologies positions the business for significant growth and continued excellence, while our existing customers will benefit from expanded services and resources."
For Trane, this marks a continued expansion of its liquid cooling portfolio, following a strategic investment in immersion cooling firm LiquidStack in March 2023 and the acquisition of Italian chiller manufacturer MTA the same year. The company also launched a 1MW coolant distribution unit earlier this year. Karin De Bondt, Chief Strategy Officer at Trane Technologies, commented on the strategic rationale: "The data center ecosystem is growing rapidly and evolving toward more agile, sustainable solutions, which is where Stellar Energy excels with leading co-engineered, modular solutions and a proven business model."
The acquisition is poised to reshape the competitive landscape for data center cooling. By combining Stellar's specialized, turnkey liquid cooling expertise with Trane's global scale, manufacturing prowess, and broad HVAC portfolio, the merged entity is well-positioned to capture a larger share of the market as operators worldwide accelerate their adoption of liquid cooling to support next-generation computing infrastructure.
Source: datacenterdynamics
Trane Technologies Acquires Liquid Cooling Specialist Stellar Energy Digital
