Blackstone to acquire Flow Control Holdings (FCH) for data center liquid cooling; FFL invests in OCFO advisory Waylin Partners

# What happened

Blackstone's private equity funds have agreed to acquire Flow Control Holdings (FCH), a Cincinnati-based manufacturer of engineered flow-control components used in liquid-cooled data center systems. The seller is Audax Private Equity, which will remain a minority investor after the deal closes. Financial terms were not disclosed.

FFL Partners separately completed an investment in Waylin Partners, a Chicago firm that acts as an Office of the CFO (OCFO) advisor by embedding finance professionals inside private equity-backed companies.

# Why the FCH deal matters

FCH produces high-performance components for coolant distribution units (CDUs), in-row manifolds and secondary fluid networks (SFN). Those parts are used by original equipment manufacturers and hyperscalers building liquid-cooled data center infrastructure. Blackstone says it will support expansion of FCH's manufacturing capacity as demand grows. The acquisition expands Blackstone's exposure to companies supplying the physical infrastructure for higher-density computing environments.

Audax retaining a minority stake means continuity between prior and new ownership and suggests a joint approach to scaling operations rather than a full divestiture.

# What Waylin Partners does and why FFL invested

Waylin Partners provides forward-deployed finance engineers who serve as an Office of the CFO for private equity-owned companies—covering interim CFO, controllership, FP&A, transaction finance, and other embedded finance functions. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. FFL Partners' investment positions Waylin to grow its OCFO service footprint across PE portfolio companies that need near-term finance leadership or outsourced, on-site finance teams.

# Practical implications for buyers, sellers and portfolio companies

• For hyperscalers and OEMs: acquiring a supplier like FCH under a buyer with capital to expand manufacturing capacity can reduce supply constraints for liquid-cooling components and accelerate customer delivery timelines.

• For private equity sponsors: the Waylin transaction signals continued demand for embedded OCFO services as sponsors move to standardize finance operations across deals and scale portfolio company performance.

# What we know and what remains unclear

Known: FCH's product focus (CDUs, in-row manifolds, SFN), FCH is headquartered in Cincinnati, Audax will retain a minority stake, and Blackstone's buyer group includes Blackstone Capital Partners and Blackstone Energy Transition Partners. Waylin Partners is a Chicago-based OCFO advisory, and FFL Partners completed its investment.

Unknown: deal price and specific terms for the FCH transaction, the exact size and structure of FFL's investment in Waylin, and the timeline for manufacturing expansion or integration plans.

# Bottom line

Blackstone is positioning itself to own a supplier serving liquid-cooled data center builds at a time of rising demand for high-density compute infrastructure. Separately, FFL Partners is backing an OCFO advisory that plugs finance leadership directly into PE portfolio companies. Both moves reflect private equity activity focused on infrastructure for advanced computing and on services that strengthen portfolio-company operations.