American industrial company
Vertiv is an American multinational provider of critical infrastructure and services for data centers and related facilities.
Headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, Vertiv has ~27,000 employees worldwide,[3] doing business in more than 130 countries, and running 23 manufacturing and assembly facilities.[4] The company has regional headquarters in: Bologna, Italy; Miami, Florida; Pasig, Manila, Philippines; Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China; and Mumbai, India.[5]
Platinum Equity acquired the Emerson Network Power business from Emerson Electric in a transaction valued in excess of $4 billion, completed in December 2016. Emerson Network Power was rebranded as Vertiv. Emerson also retained a subordinated equity piece in the company.[6]
Through a merger with GS Acquisition Holdings, the company became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 10, 2020.[7]
History
Liebert Corporation
Vertiv began as Capitol Refrigeration Industries, established in 1946 by Ralph Liebert (1918–1984) in Columbus, Ohio. Liebert Corporation was formed in 1965 as the industry's first manufacturer of computer room air conditioning (CRAC) systems, with just five associates. In 1977, Liebert launched Conditioned Power Corporation to design and manufacture power distribution, conditioning and monitoring systems for the data processing industry. Ralph Liebert's son, Larry Liebert, took over the company as president in 1980 and served in this position until 1989. In 1981, Liebert became a public company, listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol LIEB. In 1983, Liebert acquired Franklin Electric subsidiary, Programmed Power Corporation, expanding the company's power division capabilities to include the design and manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).[8]
Emerson Network Power
Liebert Corporation was acquired by Emerson Electric in 1987.[9] In 2000, Emerson formed its Network Power (ENP) business unit, integrating critical infrastructure technologies under a single brand. The following decade saw an expansion of ENP with various acquisitions. In 2001, the company increased is presence in Asia with the purchase of Avansys and formation of ENP India. ENP expanded its telecom industry solutions with the 2004 acquisition of Marconi outside plant and power system. In 2006, ENP acquired Germany-based Knürr AG, a leading provider of enclosure systems. In 2007, the Energy Logic energy efficiency model was developed and initially released.[10] Avocent and Chloride were acquired in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Vertiv
In 2016, following Platinum Equity's $4 billion acquisition of ENP, the company officially commenced a campaign to rebrand under the name Vertiv. Vertiv launched as a stand-alone business and announced the appointment of Rob Johnson as chief executive officer.[11][12] In 2017, Vertiv sold its ASCO power switch business to Schneider Electric for $1.25 billion.[13] The company made three acquisitions in 2018; Energy Labs, Geist and MEMS. After merging with GS Acquisition Holdings in 2020, Vertiv Holdings Co became public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: VRT).[14] In 2021, Vertiv acquired E+I Engineering, a global provider of switchgear, busway and modular power solutions power, for $1.8 billion.[15] In December 2023, Vertiv acquired CoolTera Ltd, a provider of coolant distribution infrastructure for data center liquid cooling technology, strengthening its thermal management portfolio for high density compute cooling requirements.[16]
Leadership
On January 1, 2023, Giordano Albertazzi became Vertiv's Chief Executive Officer.[17][18]
On July 1, 2023, Anand Sanghi became Vertiv's President of the Americas region.[19][20]
Current work
Vertiv's primary customers are businesses across three main end markets: data centers, communication networks and commercial & industrial environments. Vertiv's major customers include Alibaba, America Movil, AT&T, China Mobile, Equinix, Ericsson, Siemens, Telefonica, Tencent, Verizon and Vodafone.[21] Its principal offerings include:
- Critical infrastructure & solutions: AC and DC power management, thermal management, and integrated modular solutions.
- Integrated rack solutions: racks, rack power, rack power distribution, rack thermal systems, configurable integrated solutions, and hardware for managing I.T. equipment.
- Services & spares: services include preventative maintenance, acceptance testing, engineering and consulting, performance assessments, remote monitoring, training, spare parts, and critical digital infrastructure software.[22]
Research and Development
Vertiv invests approximately 5% of sales into research and development.[23] In 2022, Vertiv spent $282 million on research and development.[24]
Partnerships
In April 2021, Vertiv was announced as Founding Partner and Official Data Center Equipment Provider of Columbus Crew.[25]
US$6.8 billion (2023)
