Summary
- 3C and Datalec have merged into 3C Datalec, covering cooling, electrical engineering, installation, and facilities services.
- The company reports around 1,000 employees and forecasts 2026 revenue exceeding $400 million.
- Plans include 200 engineering hires and new facilities in Warsaw, Calgary, and Austin over 12 months.
Liquid cooling infrastructure company 3C Datalec has been formed through the merger of 3C and London-based Datalec Precision Installations, bringing cooling systems, mechanical and electrical engineering, connectivity installation, manufacturing support, commissioning, and facilities management into one group. The combination was announced on 14 October with backing from several investment firms.
The merged business says it employs approximately 1,000 people and expects 2026 revenue to exceed $400 million. That figure is a company forecast, not an audited final annual result. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed, so neither the acquisition price nor an implied company valuation can be established from the announcement.
Datalec was founded in 2012 and has built an installation and engineering business focused on data centres. 3C was founded by Steve Walton, formerly chief executive of CoolIT Systems, and specialises in liquid cooling infrastructure. Their combination places an equipment and thermal systems capability alongside on-site delivery and ongoing operational services.
Design, construction, and maintenance under one supplier
The company is organising services into three groups: Create for design and engineering, Construct for mechanical and electrical works, liquid cooling, manufacturing and connectivity, and Care for commissioning, operations, and maintenance. The structure extends beyond the sale of cooling equipment to the tasks that determine whether it can be installed, integrated, operated, and maintained within an active facility.
High-density computing sites increasingly require careful coordination between liquid circuits, electrical power, rack distribution, and maintenance access. The cooling system’s installed performance depends on pump selection, heat exchanger interfaces, pipework quality, leak detection, controls, and testing. Equipment specification alone does not confirm that the installed system meets a facility’s design duty.
Combining design and construction teams may reduce interfaces between contractors, but the announcement does not establish shorter delivery times or lower project costs. Those outcomes would need evidence from completed projects, measured schedule performance, or customer contracts.
The new company reports work with four of the world’s five largest hyperscalers and more than 25 colocation providers, with active projects across 16 countries. These are company descriptions of customer reach rather than disclosures of the names, contracted values, or completion status of every project.
Warsaw facility among expansion plans
Over the next 12 months, 3C Datalec intends to recruit 200 engineers and open facilities in Warsaw, Calgary, and Austin. Warsaw gives the announcement a direct European industrial capacity element, with potential implications for engineering resources and equipment support serving projects in the region. The release does not specify the Polish site’s footprint, commissioning date, employment allocation, or manufacturing throughput.
Longbow Capital, S2G Investments, Apogem Capital, and QIC are named as financial backers. The release does not disclose how much capital each is providing or the ownership split after the transaction.
The planned Warsaw expansion also needs to be distinguished from an announced Polish customer project. A regional engineering facility can improve access to commissioning teams, spare components, training or prefabrication, depending on how it is equipped. The company has not specified which of those functions will be located in Warsaw, so no individual manufacturing line, production capacity or project award should be attributed to the site yet.
The merged company now offers design, installation, cooling and operational services under one organisation. Project contracts will determine where responsibility sits for design assurance, equipment warranties, commissioning handover and maintenance across those scopes.
