Data Center & Tech Services M&A Overview

AI infrastructure spending is reshaping the M&A landscape.

For owners of data center products and services businesses — and those connected to the hub it has created across electrification, power supply, construction, and beyond — buyer interest has never been stronger.

Last updated: June 2026

The data center sector is experiencing a structural investment cycle unlike any in recent memory. U.S. tech firms allocated an estimated $300 to $400 billion to chips, data centers, and power infrastructure in 2024 and 2025. That capital is flowing through the entire value chain — from hyperscale operators and cooling system providers to managed IT services firms and electrical equipment distributors.

Vacancy rates in core U.S. data center markets have compressed to roughly 1 to 2 percent, with major tenants pre-leasing capacity years in advance. Power grid constraints, permitting backlogs, and 52-plus-week lead times on critical components such as switchgear, generators, and chillers are limiting how quickly supply can respond to demand. That mismatch is accelerating M&A as larger operators seek to acquire capabilities rather than build them.

Secondary markets including Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Raleigh-Durham are emerging as growth corridors, supported by lower power costs, available land, and favorable regulatory environments. For privately held businesses operating in these markets, geographic positioning is increasingly a valuation driver.

The value chain is wide, a phenomenon known as the data center hub effect. Buyers are active across infrastructure build, managed IT services, software and SaaS, cooling systems, technology outsourcing, and system integration.

A company does not need to own or operate a data center to benefit from this deal environment, as the surrounding ecosystem is generating substantial M&A interest.

SDR Ventures advised an electrical component distributor predominantly serving data center customers on its sell-side engagement.

SDR’s competitive process allowed the client to maximize the value of their company, producing a closing price meaningfully above the initial offer and moving from engagement to close in six months.

The following transactions reflect activity across data center products and services from 2025 to 2026. SDR tracks this market as part of its broader technology and infrastructure advisory practice.

Aligned Data Centers / BlackRock-led Consortium — Aligned Data Centers was acquired through a $40 billion leveraged buyout by a consortium including BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, and the Kuwait Investment Authority, supported by $11 billion in debt financing. The transaction reflects the scale of institutional capital moving into data center infrastructure. (March 2026)

Eaton / Fibrebond — Eaton acquired Fibrebond for $1.45 billion, representing a 7.9x EBITDA multiple and a 2.3x revenue multiple. The transaction gave Eaton a differentiated offering in fast-growing prefabricated data center infrastructure. (April 2025)

Sterling Infrastructure / CEC Facilitate Group — Sterling Infrastructure acquired CEC Facilitate Group for $505 million, based on a 9.6x EBITDA multiple and a 1.2x revenue multiple. The deal aligned with Sterling’s strategy to deliver more efficient data center solutions. (September 2025)

Daikin Applied / DDC Solutions — Daikin Industries acquired San Diego-based DDC Solutions, a provider of cooling cabinets and data center management software, for an undisclosed amount. The deal expanded Daikin’s capabilities in advanced data center cooling. (August 2025)

Blue Owl Capital / Gigabit Fiber — Blue Owl Capital completed a leveraged buyout of Dallas-based Gigabit Fiber, acquiring 100% of the company for an undisclosed amount, positioning Blue Owl as the new private equity sponsor backing the company’s continued growth in digital infrastructure. (August 2025)

• AI infrastructure spend is creating sustained buyer demand. Hyperscalers and institutional investors are committing capital at a pace that outstrips organic build capacity. Businesses that serve the data center supply chain — whether in electrical equipment, cooling, connectivity, or managed services — are benefiting from this demand.
• Power and supply chain constraints favor incumbents. With 52-plus-week lead times on critical components and power interconnect delays measured in years, established operators with supplier relationships and permitting experience carry real competitive advantages. Buyers are paying for those relationships.
• Geographic diversification is accelerating. As primary markets tighten, operators are expanding into secondary regions. Businesses with established footholds in emerging markets — particularly in the Midwest and Southeast — are attracting interest from acquirers seeking to plant flags ahead of the next development cycle.
• Fragmentation across the value chain creates roll-up opportunities. Data center services remain highly fragmented. Private equity sponsors and strategic acquirers are actively consolidating managed IT services, engineering services, system integration, and specialty distribution to build scaled platforms.
• Aging ownership demographics. A meaningful segment of the data center services market was built during the 1990s and 2000s internet buildout. Founder transitions are creating a steady pipeline of sell-side opportunities in a market with strong buyer interest.

Valuation multiples in data center products and services transactions are tracking well above the broader lower middle market, reflecting the structural demand tailwinds in the sector. Companies that serve the data center market are seeing valuations well in excess of those they have expected 2-3 years ago.

• Based on select precedent transactions from 2025 to 2026, typical EBITDA multiples have ranged from 8x to 19x, with a median of 11.5x.
• Revenue multiples have ranged from 0.2x to 3.0x, with a median of 2.3x.
• A 40% discount for lack of marketability is typically applied to transactions involving companies with enterprise values above $1 billion when benchmarking to lower middle market comparables.

Characteristics that support premium valuations in this space include long-term customer contracts, exposure to hyperscale tenants, mission-critical service relationships that create high switching costs, and defensible geographic positioning in markets where power and permitting create natural barriers to new entrants.

Characteristics that create valuation pressure include customer concentration, dependence on a single technology refresh cycle, commoditized service offerings without a differentiated delivery model, and limited management depth beyond the founder.

SDR Ventures has tracked the data center and technology services sector since 2014. Our team has reported on the space through multiple infrastructure cycles and maintains an active database of over 1,100 investment firms with a stated interest in technology, including private equity firms, family offices, independent sponsors, and search funds.

When we bring a data center services business to market, our process is built to generate competitive tension across a broad buyer universe — strategic acquirers, infrastructure-focused private equity, and financial sponsors who understand the sector’s growth dynamics. That competition is what drives premium outcomes.

A disciplined competitive process consistently produces outcomes that a single-buyer negotiation cannot. When we run a full process, the results speak for themselves: closing prices that exceed initial offers, more favorable terms, and greater certainty of close.

For business owners in this space who are thinking about a transition in the next one to three years, the current environment is worth taking seriously. Buyer interest is high, capital is available, and the structural thesis driving that interest — AI infrastructure demand, power scarcity, and geographic expansion — is not short-cycle.

If you would like to understand how your business might be positioned in this market, SDR offers a confidential, no-obligation conversation to help you think through timing, value, and process.

SDR Ventures works exclusively with business owners and operators of privately held companies.

If you own a data center products, infrastructure, or technology services business and want to understand what a transaction process looks like, including a preliminary view of value, we would welcome a confidential conversation.