Quanta Services Acquires Cupertino Electric to Advance Electric Infrastructure Solutions for Large-Scale Data Centers
July 22, 2024
Grid infrastructure construction giant Quanta Services Inc. has acquired a company known for its electrical system installations at data centers.
Last week Quanta completed its acquisition of San Jose, California-based Cupertino Electric Inc. (CEI). The latter, founded in 1954, has grown to become the sixth largest electrical solutions provider in the nation with more than 4,000 employees, according to reports.
Among the many CEI projects is the manufacturing of modular electrical systems for large-scale data centers. CEI has installed electrical systems in more than 20 million square feet of data centers, according to the Quanta news release about the deal.
The exponential growth of cloud-based computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies creates a vast future growth path for electricity infrastructure and microgrid providers. The financial firm Goldman Sachs has forecasted that close to 47 GW of new data center capacity will be constructed by the end of this decade.
“CEI brings an exceptional management team and a premier craft-skilled workforce that complements Quanta’s culture and will create a comprehensive electrical infrastructure solutions offering that we believe can facilitate innovative solutions between utilities and large power consumers—from electron generation to transmission to consumption,” Quanta CEO Duke Austin said in a statement.
Cupertino Electric’s projects include the 252-MW Proxima solar farm in California, the San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 1 Boarding Area B, and Copper Mountain Solar 3 in Nevada.
Quanta Services, already one of the largest electrical infrastructure engineering and construction firms financially, stands to gain significant revenue with the Cupertino Electric deal. The financial expectation is that CEI will add up to $2.425 billion in revenues for the full year of 2025, according to the release.
On Quanta’s part, the transaction was totaled at close to $1.54 billion, including $1.3 billion cash and approximately 883,000 shares of Quanta common stock.
