Europe's Largest HVAC Company FlaktGroup
Low-Carbon, Eco-Friendly HVAC Solutions
Rising Data Center Demand Targets Future Business
Samsung Electronics is set to acquire FlaktGroup, Germany's largest HVAC company and the leading player in Europe, for 2.4 trillion won (1.5 billion euros). Amid surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, Samsung Electronics is now making a full-scale entry into the global HVAC market.
On May 14, Samsung Electronics announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire 100% of FlaktGroup's shares from Triton, a UK-based private equity fund. The acquisition process is expected to be completed within this year.
FlaktGroup is a German HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) company that has supplied air conditioning systems to a variety of public facilities, including large-scale data centers, museums, libraries, airports, and hospitals. Recently, as demand for building data centers has increased due to the development of AI technologies, FlaktGroup has attracted attention from customers. In particular, FlaktGroup's data center solutions are reportedly well received by hyperscale data center clients, for whom energy savings and achieving low-carbon, eco-friendly targets are critical.
FlaktGroup also boasts industry-leading cooling capacity and efficiency in CDU (Coolant Distribution Unit) liquid cooling solutions, which circulate coolant to cool servers. Last year, the company received the Innovation Award at the DCS Awards 2024, a prominent event in the data center industry.
Samsung Electronics appears to have decided to acquire FlaktGroup to join the global HVAC market. Currently, Samsung Electronics operates its HVAC business mainly with individual air conditioning products for residential and commercial system air conditioner markets. In May last year, the company established a joint venture with Lennox, a US-based HVAC company, to target the North American HVAC market.
The central HVAC market, which targets large facilities such as airports, shopping malls, and factories, is projected to grow from $61 billion (86 trillion won) last year to $99 billion (140 trillion won) by 2030, representing an average annual growth rate of 8%. Within this, the data center segment is expected to reach $44.1 billion (62 trillion won) by 2030, with a high average annual growth rate of 18%, driving the expansion of the HVAC market. However, this is a high-entry-barrier industry, requiring global supply experience and capabilities in optimal design and solution provision.
Samsung Electronics has also been expanding its reach by acquiring companies in future growth industries, such as Rainbow Robotics (robotics), Oxford Semantic Technologies (AI), Sonio (medtech), and Lune (audio).
Roh Tae-moon, President and Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics, said, "By acquiring FlaktGroup, which has strong demand from AI and data center sectors, Samsung Electronics has laid the foundation to become a comprehensive global HVAC company. We will continue to foster the HVAC business, which is expected to see high growth, as a future growth engine."
Trevor Young, CEO of FlaktGroup, also commented, "We are very pleased that FlaktGroup has become part of Samsung Electronics. As a global top-tier HVAC company with over 100 years of history and beloved by large international clients, FlaktGroup expects to accelerate its growth further through Samsung Electronics' global business infrastructure and investment."
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