March 20 (Reuters) - Water solutions company Ecolab ( ECL )

said on Friday it has agreed to acquire CoolIT Systems,

a liquid cooling technology provider for AI data centers, from

KKR for $4.75 billion in cash.

The global appetite for data centers has sparked a wave of

dealmaking across the industry as companies race to build

capacity to meet the surge in power and cooling needs.

Ecolab ( ECL ) expects the deal to close in the third quarter of 2026,

and be accretive to its adjusted diluted earnings per share in

2028.