Yamatake signs investment agreement with Degree Controls, Inc. to strengthen environmental control business of the azbil Group
January 16, 2012
TOKYO, January 16, 2012 - Yamatake Corporation, a member of the azbil Group, has announced that to strengthen its environmental control business in the field of building automation, it will partly invest in U.S.-based Degree Controls, Inc. An investment agreement was closed on January 12, 2012.
The investment amount is about 2.5 million US dollars, an investment share of about 13.8%. Through this investment, Yamatake will collaborate with Degree Controls as a strategic business partner in sales and technological development.
Degree Controls is a leading manufacturer providing cooling solutions to address the heat generated by high-performance electronics for such industries as telecommunications, medical electronics, computers, and electronics. It applies cooling methods using airflow engineering for thermal management.
Yamatake had already signed an agreement for sales of Degree Controls' AdaptivCOOL™ in the Japanese market in January 2009, and started sales in July 2009. AdaptivCOOL is a solution product that eliminates hot spots*1 and overcooled areas-issues inherent to data centers-and realizes optimum thermal spaces. Installing this system can reduce HVAC-related energy consumption by about 20% for a 500m² floor space. In October 2010, AdaptivCOOL won the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau Director-General Award in the IT Energy Conservation Division at the 2010 Green IT Awards*2, sponsored by the Green IT Promotion Council. In December 2010, a new "airflow control system function" was added to realize optimum thermal environments and energy conservation in server rooms, and sales of AdaptivCOOL are steadily expanding in the Japanese data center market.
Going forward, Yamatake will actively propose AdaptivCOOL solutions not only for the domestic data center market, but also for customers suffering from high heat load. Furthermore, Yamatake expects to cooperate with Degree Controls in developing business in fields other than AdaptivCOOL, such as cooling technologies, temperature and flow sensors, and heat load solutions, and has set a sales target of 2 billion yen in 5 years.
Guided by the azbil Group philosophy of "human-centered automation," and also with the goal of becoming a manufacturer of environmental controls, Yamatake is creating differentiated solutions unique to the azbil Group using applications tailored to the market, and contributing to global environmental preservation.
AdaptivCOOL
Degree Controls, Inc.
| Headquarters: | New Hampshire, U.S.A. |
| President & CEO: | Jagat Sisodia |
| Business: | Supplying the world's leading cooling solutions for telecommunications, medical electronics, computers, and electronics |
*1 Hot spots are generated by exhaust heat from the server or by underfloor wiring obstructing the flow of underfloor cooling air.
*2 The Green IT Awards is a commendation system sponsored by the Green IT Promotion Council of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It recognizes IT equipment, software, services, solutions, etc. which demonstrate outstanding effectiveness in energy conservation and proposals which utilize their potential.
* AdaptivCOOL is a registered trademark of Degree Controls, Inc.
*2 The Green IT Awards is a commendation system sponsored by the Green IT Promotion Council of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It recognizes IT equipment, software, services, solutions, etc. which demonstrate outstanding effectiveness in energy conservation and proposals which utilize their potential.
* AdaptivCOOL is a registered trademark of Degree Controls, Inc.
* Yamatake Corporation changed its name to Azbil Corporation on April 1, 2012.
