The acquisition is aimed at strengthening the leadership in the offer of high-density integrated infrastructures
Vertiv (NYSE: VRT), a global leader in critical digital infrastructure, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Great Lakes Data Racks & Cabinets family of companies (collectively “Great Lakes”) for $200 million. Great Lakes is recognized for designing and manufacturing innovative, highly customized racks and other integrated infrastructure solutions that form the foundation of today's data centers.
The purchase price represents approximately 11.5 times the expected 2026 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), including cost synergies and cross-selling opportunities. The acquisition is expected to enhance Vertiv's ability to provide pre-engineered, AI-ready rack solutions optimized for large-scale enterprise, edge, colocation and hyperscale markets.
Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, USA, Great Lakes operates manufacturing and assembly facilities in the United States and Europe. The portfolio includes standard and custom racks, integrated cabinets, seismic cabinets and advanced cable management options, for both retrofit applications and greenfield installations. The acquisition enhances Vertiv's end-to-end critical digital infrastructure offerings, enhancing the company's capabilities to provide the industry's most comprehensive set of products and services for critical digital infrastructure demands.
“Great Lakes is a leading rack manufacturer with a broad portfolio of high-end solutions and innovation capabilities that are essential in an increasingly demanding environment of high-density AI infrastructure,” said Giordano Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv. "With the acquisition of Great Lakes, Vertiv consolidates its leading position in providing technology solutions in the sensitive white space market. The combination of our respective expertise allows us to provide complete, engineered infrastructure solutions that go beyond basic integration, addressing the complex challenges of next-generation AI technology."
The integration of Great Lakes' expertise with Vertiv's existing portfolio is expected to bring significant benefits to customers through consolidated infrastructure procurement, faster deployment through pre-engineered solutions, greater operational efficiency with factory integration of Vertiv™ power and cooling solutions, improved scalability for AI and edge computing applications, and comprehensive support across Vertiv's global service network.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.
