By Shane Snider
Senior News Writer, Data Center Knowledge
September 4, 2026
Executive Overview
In a landmark deal reshaping the landscape of digital infrastructure, global manufacturing and technology solutions provider Flex has announced its definitive agreement to acquire EPC Power for $4.4 billion. The transaction introduces advanced 800V DC (direct current) architectures, grid-forming capabilities, and next-generation power-conversion technologies directly into Flex’s rapidly expanding data center portfolio.
Subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the deal is slated to officially close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Upon completion, EPC Power will be integrated into Flex’s Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment—a division that Flex intends to aggressively spin off into an independent, publicly traded entity by the first quarter of 2027.
The transaction underscores a broader, structural evolution within the tech sector: as generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and hyper-dense server racks push electrical demands to unprecedented limits, the constraints of modern data centers are no longer just a compute or chip-manufacturing problem—they are fundamentally a power-systems crisis. By securing EPC Power’s high-capacity manufacturing footprint and cutting-edge power conversion portfolio, Flex is positioning itself at the epicenter of the global race to electrify next-generation AI infrastructure.
Detailed Chronology and Transaction Architecture
The road to the $4.4 billion acquisition has been paved by a convergence of rapid manufacturing scaling, private equity stewardship, and soaring hyperscale demand.
The Private Equity Backing and Upward Trajectory
EPC Power’s journey to becoming an acquisition target of this magnitude was significantly accelerated by prior strategic investments. In 2021, the company secured early financial backing that enabled it to scale its research and development. Shortly thereafter, in 2022, a consortium comprising Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Cleanhill Partners acquired a controlling majority stake in the company, fueling its operational expansion to meet the surging demands of the renewable energy, microgrid, and burgeoning AI data center sectors.
Manufacturing Muscle in South Carolina
The timing of the Flex acquisition closely follows a major milestone for EPC Power. In July 2026, the company officially opened a massive 167,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. This plant nearly tripled EPC Power’s production capacity overnight, launching with an initial annual output of 27 gigawatts (GW) and a modular scalability design capable of reaching 40 GW.
The South Carolina facility—which is projected to generate roughly 275 high-tech manufacturing jobs—produces the company’s flagship M and MRACK series power inverters tailored specifically for grid integration, energy storage systems (ESS), and high-density AI data centers. According to company projections, EPC Power’s total annual U.S. manufacturing capacity is on track to eclipse 30 GW by 2027.
Financial Roadmap and the Upcoming Spin-Off
From a financial standpoint, EPC Power is scaling in tandem with its manufacturing output. The company is projected to pull in approximately $800 million in revenue throughout calendar year 2026. Looking ahead to 2027, Flex anticipates organic revenue growth of roughly 40%, accompanied by robust EBITDA margins hovering around 30%.
To fund the $4.4 billion purchase price, Flex has structured a financing package blending debt and equity. Rather than simply absorbing EPC Power into its massive global supply chain operations, Flex has structured the acquisition to anchor its upcoming corporate restructuring: EPC Power will initially join Flex’s Cloud and Power Infrastructure division, which is slated for a complete corporate spin-off as an independent public entity in Q1 2027. This move will grant institutional investors direct exposure to pure-play AI power electronics.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The 800V DC Revolution
To understand why a power-conversion company commands a $4.4 billion valuation, industry analysts point to the physics of modern AI clusters. As server racks transition from conventional air-cooled densities of 10kW to 20kW to hyper-dense, liquid-cooled AI footprints scaling past 100kW per rack, traditional electrical distribution systems buckling under the strain.
[Electrical Grid / On-Site Generation]
│
▼ (High-Voltage AC)
[EPC Power Conversion]
├─ Agile Grid-Forming
├─ Digital Rectifiers
├─ DC-DC Converters
└─ Solid-State Transformers (Roadmap)
│
▼ (High-Density 800V DC)
[Next-Gen AI Server Racks]Eliminating Conversion Losses with 800V DC
EPC Power specializes in power-conversion systems designed to handle data centers, utility-scale energy storage, and microgrids. Its platform relies on advanced components such as digital rectifiers, DC-DC converters, and an active roadmap toward solid-state transformers.
Crucially, EPC’s platform is engineered to connect 800V DC loads more directly to incoming grid voltages. In traditional facilities, electricity undergoes multiple loss-inducing conversion steps—shifting from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) and back again across various uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and power distribution units (PDUs).
By operating on an 800V DC architecture:
- Higher Voltage, Lower Current: More power can be delivered across thinner conductors, dramatically slashing electrical resistance and thermal losses.
- Consolidation of Equipment: The architecture consolidates functions traditionally split across multiple discrete UPS systems and legacy AC distribution layers, reducing spatial footprints within the data center.
- Direct AI Rack Compatibility: Next-generation AI chips and server architectures are increasingly designed to accept higher-voltage direct inputs, making 800V DC a critical enabler for efficiency.
Strategic Significance and Expert Analysis
Industry observers emphasize that this transaction marks a paradigm shift in how capital markets view the components of a data center. No longer are silicon chips and server enclosures the sole focal points of strategic value; the supporting electrical apparatus has become the ultimate bottleneck—and thus, the primary strategic control point.
Neil Osnato, founder of Persistence Analytics Group, offered a blunt assessment of the buyout’s broader implications:
"The $4.4 billion price itself is a signal that power conversion is moving from a supporting component to a strategic control point in AI infrastructure. AI infrastructure is becoming as much a power-systems problem as a compute problem."
Osnato noted that as campus power requirements skyrocket into the hundreds of megawatts—frequently rivaling the electrical draw of small cities—the mechanisms governing how electricity flows between the public utility, on-site generation, energy storage, and compute racks dictate a facility’s viability.
Power Electronics and the Grid Interface
Beyond internal rack distribution, EPC Power’s technology addresses the erratic, high-frequency spikes in power demand characteristic of modern machine learning workloads. Its Agile Grid-Forming platform is engineered to react to load variations in mere milliseconds.
These systems allow data center operators to seamlessly blend on-site renewable generation (such as solar and wind) and utility-scale energy storage systems (BESS) while supporting microgrid isolation when the main grid falters.
However, Osnato issues a word of caution regarding how these advanced power electronics are perceived by grid operators:
"Load smoothing is not load elimination. Power electronics and storage can smooth rapid changes in demand and help manage the electrical behavior seen at the grid interface, but they should not be treated as a substitute for addressing the underlying requirements of a massive continuous load."
When evaluating massive AI facilities, Osnato advises utilities to look far beyond a developer’s stated peak demand metrics. Utilities must rigorously audit:
- Ramp Characteristics: How fast the load steps up or down.
- Power-Electronic Controls: The responsiveness and stability of inverters.
- Ride-Through Behavior: How the facility handles voltage sags and transient faults.
- Grid-Forming vs. Grid-Following Modes: The ability of the facility to establish its own frequency reference or synchronize with the broader grid.
- Harmonics and Fault Behavior: The introduction of electrical noise or distortion into the local transmission lines.
Crucially, Osnato underscores a trust-but-verify philosophy for utility interconnection: "Declared capability is not demonstrated capability. If a developer claims a campus can smooth its load, ride through disturbances, or provide grid support, utilities need empirical evidence showing what the capability is, under what conditions it works, how long it lasts, and what changes would require it to be revalidated."
Future Outlook: The Road to the 2027 Spin-Off
The acquisition of EPC Power by Flex—and its subsequent path toward an independent public spin-off in early 2027—highlights an aggressive corporate strategy designed to capture maximum value from the energy transition.
As geopolitical pressures mount regarding domestic supply chains (such as recent regulatory frameworks targeting foreign grid equipment) and as utilities increasingly restrict grid hookups for speculative data center developments, technologies that offer localized grid-forming, rapid response, and high-efficiency 800V DC conversion will dictate which AI campuses successfully launch and which stall out in interconnection queues.
By locking down a multi-gigawatt U.S. manufacturing footprint in South Carolina alongside best-in-class power conversion intellectual property, Flex is not merely participating in the AI boom—it is constructing the tollbooth through which all future mega-wattage compute must pass.
As the fourth quarter of 2026 approaches, market watchers will be tracking regulatory clearances and the finer details of the 2027 spin-off, keeping a close eye on whether EPC Power’s expanding manufacturing capacity can keep pace with an industry whose appetite for power remains insatiable.
