IR

A data center running 100kW racks needs to move heat. Air alone cannot do it at that density. The industry is shifting to liquid cooling loops — closed circuits of coolant that absorb heat at the chip and reject it through heat exchangers. Those loops need pumps to move coolant, compressors to support chiller systems, and precision flow control to distribute fluid across hundreds of racks without pressure imbalance.

Ingersoll Rand makes all three. Their Industrial Technologies and Services segment (~80% of revenue) builds air compressors, blowers, and vacuum systems — the backbone of industrial manufacturing. Their Precision and Science Technologies segment (~20% of revenue) makes specialized positive displacement pumps, fluid management equipment, and precision compressors under brands including ARO, Milton Roy, Haskel, Thomas, SEEPEX, and Dosatron. The PST segment is where the data center story lives — ARO specifically markets pumps for data center cooling, power, and condensate control.

But context matters. IR generated approximately $7.7 billion in revenue in 2025. Data center-related revenue is estimated at $600-900 million — perhaps 8-12% of total. The rest comes from manufacturing plants, mining operations, oil and gas facilities, food and beverage processing, pharmaceutical production, and water treatment. IR is a diversified industrial company that happens to sell equipment useful in data centers, not a data center equipment company that also does industrial work.

The company has been a serial acquirer since its 2020 merger with Gardner Denver, completing over 40 bolt-on acquisitions for more than $2 billion. This M&A engine is central to the thesis — management targets recurring revenue of $1 billion by 2027, up from $200 million in 2023 and $450 million guided for 2026. The strategy is to buy niche fluid and thermal companies, bolt them onto IR's global distribution, and cross-sell into the installed base.