Vertiv to buy microgrid firm UIG for $1.45B to speed AI data center power
What's the deal? VertivDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has agreed to acquire UtilityInnovation Group (UIG)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for approximately $1.45 billion in cash, with up to $1.15 billion more tied to EBITDA targets over 12- and 24-month periods. The Columbus, Ohio-based critical infrastructure company announced the deal on September 2, 2026, through its subsidiary Vertiv Corporation.
What each side brings: Vertiv sells power and cooling systems for data centers. UIG designs microgrid solutions, advanced power controls, and behind-the-meter power architecture — the systems that coordinate onsite generation and energy storage.
What's the endgame? The acquisition extends Vertiv's portfolio upstream to the grid interconnect, giving it a coordinated architecture "from source to chip," per chief executive officer Gio Albertazzi. That means Vertiv can support grid-connected sites, bridge-to-grid deployments, and islanded sites running on onsite generation.
Why now? Power availability is becoming a critical constraint on AI infrastructure, pushing architecture decisions earlier in site planning. Microgrids let operators reduce reliance on utility power and secure capacity faster.
The price: The base $1.45 billion equals roughly 13x UIG's expected 2027 EBITDA — a multiple that drops if the full earnout is paid. Vertiv expects the deal to add to adjusted earnings per share in the first year after closing.
In their words: "For AI data center operators, competitive advantage increasingly depends on how quickly they can move from site selection to first token," Albertazzi said. UIG founder and CEO Sidney Hinton called Vertiv's global scale and service capabilities "a strong strategic fit for what we have built."
The signal: The deal reflects how power, not just compute, now dictates the pace of AI buildout. As grid constraints tighten, infrastructure suppliers are racing to own the full stack from utility interconnect to the chip.
Image credit: bugeaters
