Page 8 - Climate Control News May 2021

News
Johnson Controls
set to acquire Silent-Aire
Silent-Aire co-CEO, Lindsey Leckelt, said the company grew up with the cloud and its DNA translates what it means to be a hyperscale data centre company.
“Being an innovative partner with early adop- ters, we broke through traditional design barriers that pushed energy initiatives in what led to how most hyperscale data centres are cooled and engi- neered today,” he said.
Silent-Aire is headquartered in Edmonton, Al- berta and has approximately 3000 employees globally.
Silent-Aire co-CEO, Dan Leckelt, said sustain- ability has been a major focus while growing the family business.
“Maintaining our growth to match our cus- tomers’ demands has taken us from 30 employ- ees to 3000 over this period,” Leckelt said.
Subject to the receipt of regulatory approval and customary closing condi- tions, the transaction is ex- pected to close in the fiscal third quarter of 2021.
Johnson Controls CEO, George Oliver.
JOHNSON CONTROLS HAS entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Silent-Aire, a global leader in hyperscale data centre cooling and modular critical infrastructure solutions.
This all-cash transaction is valued at $870 mil- lion, including an upfront payment of approxi- mately $630 million and additional payments to be made subject to the achievement of post-clos- ing earnout milestones.
Silent-Aire specialises in the design, engineer- ing and manufacturing of mission critical cus- tom air handlers and modular data centres for hyperscale cloud and colocation providers.
Silent-Aire’s portfolio of data centre solutions allows for rapid deployment of critical infra- structure in flexible configurations, with a focus on quality, scalability, and speed-to-market. Si- lent-Aire’s revenue for fiscal year 2021 (May) is expected to approximate $650 million.
Johnson Controls chair and CEO, George Ol- iver, said the deal provides the company with an opportunity to increase its focus on the
data centre vertical and accelerate growth in this attractive end market by combining its global scale in manufacturing and service, with leading-edge innovation and a broad portfolio of technologies dedicated to serving hyperscale providers.
“This acquisition perfectly aligns with several of our key strategic growth initiatives and under- scores our focus on creating shareholder value,” Oliver said.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Silent- Aire to the Johnson Controls family as we look to build upon their success of nearly 30 years of in- novation, operational expertise, and deep cus- tomer relationships.”
The continuous migration of applications to the cloud (SaaS) has resulted in unprecedented demand for computing power and the rapid ex- pansion of data centre infrastructure.
In recent years, this trend has overwhelmingly favoured the development of hyperscale cloud and colocation facilities.
Go-to resource for industry
AIRAH HAS RELEASED the sixth edition of the Technical Handbook, which was first pub- lished in May 1989.
It has long been considered the “go-to re- source” for those working in the HVACR industry. Over the past 30 years, AIRAH members have helped develop, review, and curate the
content.
AIRAH CEO, Tony Gleeson, said the Techni-
cal Handbook is the institute’s flagship techni- cal publication.
“It represents the combined knowledge and insights of more than 40 leading AIRAH members and the HVACR commu- nity – all in one resource,”
he said.
“It has been developed
by HVACR practitioners for HVACR practitioners to use in the field.”
RIGHT: The Technical Handbook is AIRAH’s flagship publication.
BELOW: Handbook editor, Vince Aherne.
Gleeson said the handbook’s easy- to-use and logical structure makes it ideal for all HVACR practitioners.
“It goes beyond just making a conclusion based on the data pre-
sented, and gives real-world consid-
erations and insights to support high-quality work,” he said.
The handbook summarises the key compo- nents of AIRAH’s Design Application (DA) manuals. The new edition is the result of a com- prehensive review in 2020.
According to the editor of the Technical Handbook, Vince Aherne, every edition of the book builds on the previous one.
Aherne said improvements to the Technical
Handbook are forever ongoing and this edition incorporates a great deal of new data
The sixth edition includes new and updat- ed information on design, air distribution, thermal comfort, particulate air filters, maintenance, noise and vibration, refriger- ants and refrigeration.
Members can purchase the book for $149 while non-members can get one year member- ship and the handbook for $574.
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