ABB has agreed to acquire IPEC, whose monitoring systems use AI and advanced analytics to track critical electrical infrastructure and predict failures that could cause major financial losses, safety risks or extended outages in industries such as data centres, healthcare, utilities and manufacturing.

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026 with financial terms not being disclosed.

“Across critical industries, the cost of downtime is staggering, from multi-million-dollar revenue losses in data centres to the safety and reliability risks facing utilities and hospitals,” ABB Electrification Services division president Stuart Thompson says.

“By turning complex monitoring data into clear, actionable insights, we’re enabling businesses to shift from reactive repairs to predictive maintenance, so they can focus on performance while their critical infrastructure runs leaner, cleaner and smarter.”

Partial discharge activity is responsible for over 80% of asset breakdowns before unexpected outages. IPEC specialises in detecting partial discharge, enabling businesses to address issues before they escalate, improving reliability, reducing downtime by up to 90%, cutting maintenance costs by as much as 85% and extending asset life.

“At IPEC, we’ve spent decades refining how partial discharge data can be translated into meaningful diagnostics through advanced algorithms and, more recently, AI and machine learning,” IPEC managing director Dr Colin Smith says.

“By joining ABB, we can both continue to develop our technology and bring our innovations to more industries and markets, turning complex data into predictive insight that anticipates potential failures and enables industries to make more strategic, intelligent decisions about their electrical assets.”