Samsung is in talks to acquire data centre cooling firm Modine

[NEW YORK] Samsung Electronics is in talks to acquire Modine Manufacturing, a maker of cooling systems for data centres, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies are discussing a potential transaction that could come together as soon as the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

No final decision has been made and the talks could still fall apart, the people said. Another suitor could also emerge, they added.

Representatives for Samsung and Modine declined to comment.

Modine’s shares closed regular trading on Thursday (Nov 12) in New York at US$106.10, giving the company a market value of about US$5.6 billion. The stock soared to more than US$135 in late trading, a gain of 28 per cent.

The company’s shares had fallen about 15 per cent since Nov 3, when it reported quarterly results that underwhelmed investors. 

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Samsung rose as much as 3.9 per cent in Seoul on Friday, before paring gains. The stock has surged 72 per cent in 2026 so far, giving the company a market value of about US$910 billion.

“An acquisition of Modine would help Samsung diversify into other areas, given the group is too dependent on its memory business,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi said.

“While it can generate a lot of cash from chips, it might need to find other growth businesses such as data centre-related assets.”

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The discussions underscore how mergers and acquisitions is picking up around companies that cater to the booming artificial intelligence market.

US companies and their overseas rivals have stepped up efforts to capture the growth opportunity coming from data centres through bigger investments and dealmaking.

Among them are Samsung’s Asian rivals Daikin Industries and LG Electronics, as well as US-based Vertiv. 

Based in Racine, Wisconsin, Modine makes heavy duty cooling and heating systems for large commercial buildings and industrial machines, with its fastest-growing business serving hyperscalers that build data centres.

In October, the company spun off its automotive business to focus on its thermal-management operations. 

“Modine recently became a pure-play thermal management business and has huge upside to data centre cooling solutions, with the unit growing 86 per cent annually for the past three fiscal years,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Christina Feehery said.

“Still, it’s seen as a small peer relative to the larger HVAC OEM market, making it an attractive target for vertical integration in AI infrastructure.”

Samsung is one of the largest technology and electronics companies in the world. The Suwon, South Korea-based company’s products include smartphones, televisions, home appliances, thermal solutions and computer memory chips. 

While a Modine takeover would be bolder in magnitude, Samsung has been bolstering its thermal solutions offering to data centres through international acquisitions. It purchased Germany-based FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros (US$1.7 billion) in 2025. BLOOMBERG