Vertiv (VRT) is paying $1.45 billion for a microgrid firm so data centers can stop waiting on the grid
Key points
- Vertiv (VRT) to buy UtilityInnovation Group for $1.45 billion
- Earnout of up to $1.15 billion tied to EBITDA targets
- About 13 times UIG's expected 2027 EBITDA
- Deal extends Vertiv upstream to the grid interconnect
Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) has agreed to buy Utility Innovation Holdings, the company behind UtilityInnovation Group, for about $1.45 billion in cash at closing. The purchase would push Vertiv beyond equipment inside the data center and into the systems that connect a site to the grid and onsite power. Vertiv Corporation is the wholly owned subsidiary that signed the merger agreement on September 1, according to an 8-K filed Wednesday morning.
The agreement carries additional consideration of up to $1.15 billion in cash, payable in two tranches if earned, tied to EBITDA targets over 12-month and 24-month periods. At the $1.45 billion price, Vertiv put the deal at about 13 times UIG's expected 2027 EBITDA, and said the multiple would be "significantly lower if the full earnout is paid." Vertiv expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year after completion, and said in the 8-K that it expects to fund the purchase from existing resources.
UIG designs microgrid systems, power controls and behind-the-meter power architecture for data centers. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. It also has a European base in Dublin and factories in North Carolina and New Jersey. Its lineup includes a proprietary control platform, custom microgrid switchgear and energy storage. Because UIG's designs are generation-agnostic, customers can choose the power technology that works with a site's permits, fuel supply and financing.
Gio Albertazzi, Vertiv's chief executive, said in the release: "For AI data center operators, competitive advantage increasingly depends on how quickly they can move from site selection to first token." He said Vertiv anticipates extending its power and cooling portfolio "upstream to the utility interconnect and onsite power sources, creating a coordinated architecture from source to chip without tying customers to a single generation technology or supplier."
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Who is selling
UIG's founder and chief executive is Sidney Hinton, who led the distributed-energy company PowerSecure through its sale to Southern Company in 2016. Southern paid $18.75 per share, an aggregate purchase price of $429 million, according to Southern's own quarterly filing. Hinton retired as chief executive of Southern PowerSecure in October 2018.
Hinton said in Wednesday's release: "UIG was founded to solve increasingly complex power challenges for data center operators through flexible, technology-agnostic architectures." He said Vertiv's global scale and service capabilities make it "a strong strategic fit for what we have built."
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The grid constraint behind the deal
Vertiv tied the rationale to grid constraints. The release says microgrid systems can coordinate onsite generation and energy storage, reduce reliance on utility power and support the grid when needed, and that power architecture decisions are consequently moving earlier in site planning. Among the expected customer benefits Vertiv listed were "faster access to power with less dependence on utility interconnection timelines" and the ability to scale a site beyond what the grid alone can provide.
That constraint has been showing up across the equipment layer all year. Transformers, switchgear and turbines have been running years ahead of GPU delivery schedules. Buyers who cannot wait have been paying for onsite generation instead, with gas turbine slots booked out toward 2030. Vertiv's existing data center business sits inside the building, including the liquid cooling systems the densest AI racks require. UIG's equipment sits at the property line.
The announcement did not provide a new look at Vertiv's order book. Vertiv has not reported a quarterly backlog figure this year. Its latest number remains an estimated combined order backlog of $15.0 billion as of December 31, 2025, disclosed in the FY2025 10-K against $7.2 billion a year earlier. In its 2026 quarterly filings, backlog appears only in risk-factor language. Our AI backlog tracker shows the figure with its reporting date.
Vertiv shares were little changed on the news, trading at $255.42 around 2:15 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday against Tuesday's close of $255.97.
The companies expect the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. It still needs regulatory clearance and other customary approvals, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. J.P. Morgan Securities is Vertiv's financial adviser, and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is its legal counsel. Morgan Stanley is advising UIG on the finances, while Davis Polk & Wardwell is providing legal counsel.
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