Originally posted to Data Center Frontier by Rich Miller.

vertiv-dcdny2017ASCO Power Technologies has lots of experience managing smooth transitions. Now it will manage a transition in ownership. Schneider Electric announced today that it has purchased ASCO from Vertiv for $1.25 billion in an all-cash transaction. Meanwhile, Vertiv’s ownership said the proceeds from the sale would enable them to consider a new capital structure.

ASCO’s products play a key role in the data center power chain. The company is a leading maker of automatic transfer switches (ATS) which transfer critical loads from primary power to a backup generation – typically shifting the data center power source from a utility grid to UPS units and generators.

Today’s deal makes Schneider Electric the global leader in the ATS market, the company said. Schneider was already the leading player in the ATS business in China.

“The market for ATS presents attractive long-term growth opportunities as more commercial and industrial customers move towards autonomous or multi-source power management,” Schneider said in a statement. “This trend is driven by a more decentralized power generation world, core to Schneider Electric’s strategic focus. From an end-market perspective, the acquisition further enhances Schneider Electric’s value proposition in the end-to-end Energy Management chain for customers in Healthcare, Financial services, Datacenters and other Critical Buildings.”

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