Oilfield services giant SLB announced plans Monday to acquire Kelvion, a German thermal management company focused on the data center industry, for $3.4 billion in cash.
Formerly known as Schlumberger, SLB’s multi billion-dollar bet on the data center boom comes as oil and gas companies jump deeper into the industry while political tides in both Texas and nationally may be turning against data centers.
“AI is driving the most significant infrastructure investment cycle in our lifetime,” Olivier Le Peuch, SLB’s chief executive officer, said in a statement of the deal.
Houston-based SLB has spent billions in the last few years developing a dedicated data center division, and the acquisition of Kelvion would expand its offerings. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027 and includes $3.4 billion in cash and the assumption of $700 million in debt.
Data centers make up more than half of Kelvion’s total sales. The German firm specializes in the cooling and heat-transfer technologies needed for data centers to operate.
While Texas’ energy companies are going all-in on data centers – Chevron and Microsoft announced a partnership on a massive West Texas project in June – state and federal lawmakers are considering pausing the country’s rapidly growing data center plans.
On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a moratorium on the approval of data centers until regulatory agencies can review proposed projects that would connect to the state’s electric grid.
Abbott’s decision comes after widespread backlash toward the swift development of data centers across the state. Residents, environmentalists and members of other industries such as agriculture argue the projects risk their water sources, livestock, and bring unwanted amounts of noise pollution, among other concerns.
In Congress, Democrats have introduced legislation to temporarily freeze the construction and expansion of large-scale AI data centers.
The Trump administration said in a social media post Monday morning that efforts against data centers would hinder the economy.“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump said.
Excitement around data centers mirrors the energy sector’s enthusiasm around green technology several years ago, said Michael Short, a partner in Bain’s Energy and Natural Resources practice.
While clean energy hasn’t quite met market projections, Short said, data center buildout thus far “is living up to expectations or even exceeding them.”
SLB’s shares were up more than 2% Monday morning.