Smiths Group acquires DRC Heat Transfer for £164 million

Smiths Group's £164 million acquisition of Ohio-based DRC Heat Transfer represents a targeted expansion for its Flex-Tek business into the rapidly growing data center infrastructure market. This transaction, announced on March 9, 2026, provides Smiths Group with immediate access to specialized power and cooling equipment, a critical component for modern data centers. The commercial logic centers on diversifying Smiths' revenue streams and leveraging DRC's expertise to capture a share of the capital expenditure driven by increasing global data consumption, moving beyond Smiths' traditional medical, aerospace, and industrial technology markets. This strategic move allows Smiths to integrate essential thermal management capabilities directly into its global technology portfolio. Ohio-based DRC Heat Transfer, historically focused on custom heat exchangers for power generation, oil & gas, and chemical sectors, now sees its specialized data center cooling capabilities scaled under a larger global technology company. For Smiths Group, a global technology company providing highly engineered products and services across diverse markets including medical, aerospace, detection, and industrial technologies, this acquisition is a focused vertical integration. The deal specifically enhances Smiths' Flex-Tek business, granting it a direct entry point into the data center equipment supply chain and positioning the unit for growth in an emerging technology infrastructure segment.