APC sale shows cooling is hot

Schneider to buy UPS firm for $6.1bn

APC is to be acquired by power and automation control firm Schneider Electric in a $6.1bn deal that adds more scale to the leader in uninterruptible power-supply (UPS) units and datacentre-cooling technologies.

French giant Schneider has global interests in factory automation, transport, military and other sectors, while APC is perhaps the best-known specialist in protecting against the effects of power outages and surges through UPS devices and related products. APC also provides datacentre design consulting for other companies such as Dell to offer to their own customers.

The high valuation of APC reflects the growing importance of managing computing power resources for firms. The subject has raced up IT directors’ agendas thanks to the soaring cost of electricity and growth of blade servers and other power-hungry equipment in datacentres.

The Schneider-APC combination will challenge other specialists in the field such as Emerson Network Power, as well as IT giants that have recently moved deeper into the space. IBM, with its Cool Blue line of power management and cooling technologies, and HP have this year released products and services to target the datacentre-cooling issue, while Sun last month announced plans for Blackbox, a ready-made datacentre in a shipping container.
Many industry leaders are also pursuing new approaches to cooling and revisiting others such as using refrigerating gases, chilled-water pipes and blowers.

However, other experts contend that the answer to controlling heat dissipation, power resources and other datacentre challenges lies in better planning and new building rather than retrofitting cooling systems. For example, UK datacentre designer Future-Tech has built datacentres by repurposing car parks and even cow sheds.

The growing interest in the topic has also helped drive demand for educational conferences such as Gartner’s Datacentre Summit and the Datacentre Dynamics conference, both scheduled for London this month.

In a statement, Schneider chief executive Jean-Pascal Tricoire said the move would offer “unique differentiated solutions” for customers.

APC declined to comment further on the deal, saying only that it will be “business as usual” until the merger completes, pending a shareholder vote early next year.