The $1.45 Billion Question Facing Vertiv Investors

The next bottleneck in artificial intelligence (AI) may not be about making more chips. The problem is getting enough power to run all those chips in the first place. And this is where Vertiv Holdings (VRT) is making a $1.45 billion bet. The data center infrastructure company is acquiring UtilityInnovation Group (UIG), a company specializing in microgrids, onsite generation, and power controls, bringing Vertiv closer to the point where an AI data center gets its electricity. But the $1.45 billion is not the complete picture. Vertiv could ultimately end up paying another $1.15 billion if UIG hits its EBITDA targets.

The question now is whether this $2.6 billion potential bet can turn AI’s power bottleneck into a bigger growth opportunity for Vertiv or an expensive bet.