CoolIT

Hundreds of employees at Calgary’s CoolIT Systems will receive significant payouts following its USD $4.75 billion sale to Ecolab, marking a major liquidity event for the city’s tech sector. Under a broad ownership program introduced by KKR in 2023, all 650 staff held equity, with returns ranging from one to eight years of salary.

The deal highlights the value of employee participation in high-growth firms. CoolIT, a leader in liquid cooling for data centres, has benefited from rising AI demand. The transaction, expected to close in 2026, also delivers strong returns for KKR.

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New York-based investor KKR is exploring a potential sale of Canadian cooling specialist CoolIT Systems, according to the Financial Times. Advisors have been hired to assess buyer interest. Mubadala Investment Company holds a minority stake.

CoolIT designs liquid cooling systems for data centres, circulating low-temperature fluids to dissipate heat from servers increasingly strained by artificial intelligence workloads. The method is rapidly replacing traditional air cooling as facilities scale. A sale could command a premium over CoolIT’s reported US$270 million valuation when KKR acquired it in 2023.

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Calgary-based CoolIT Systems says it has expanded global production at triple-digit rates over the past two years as AI workloads drive demand for liquid-cooled data centres. The company increased output of coolant distribution units and coldplates while developing systems capable of cooling chips exceeding 4,000 watts and racks surpassing 500 kilowatts.

CoolIT’s technology cools more than five million processors and is deployed in seven of the world’s top ten supercomputers. The firm plans further expansion in Canada, China, and Vietnam in 2026. As AI compute density rises, liquid cooling is becoming essential infrastructure.

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Calgary-based CoolIT Systems, a global leader in liquid cooling technology, is driving Alberta’s emergence as a data centre and tech hub. Chief Operating Officer Patrick McGinn credits Alberta’s abundant resources, skilled workforce, and favourable business climate for attracting firms like AWS and Microsoft.

With Colliers’ support, CoolIT is expanding its headquarters and Liquid Lab™, boosting manufacturing by 25X and creating hundreds of jobs. Their energy-saving technology cuts cooling energy by over 90% and enables heat recycling. McGinn sees Alberta’s future shaped by data centre growth, sustainability, and talent development, positioning the province for long-term global leadership.

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