Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX) announced on September 3, 2026 that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire EPC Power Corp. for $4.4 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Once complete, EPC Power will be folded into Flex's Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment.
The headline number matters, but what deserves attention is what Flex bought.
The target is the 800V DC architecture itself
EPC Power holds a next-generation 800-volt data center power architecture that includes digital rectifiers and solid-state transformers (SSTs). This is the layer that delivers power to high-density AI infrastructure, and Flex says the combination lets it build an end-to-end grid-to-chip power portfolio.
The shift to 800V DC is the industry's answer to distribution losses and cable weight becoming binding constraints as AI rack density climbs. This deal answers the question of who supplies the hardware behind that shift—rectifiers and transformers—with vertical integration from the EMS side.
US manufacturing scaled roughly tenfold in four years
EPC Power is a North American power conversion manufacturer headquartered in Poway, California, serving data centers, utility-scale storage, and microgrids. According to CEO Jim Fusaro, the company has expanded its US manufacturing footprint nearly tenfold over the past four years. It grew under partnerships with Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Cleanhill Partners.
Technology assets
800V DC data center power architecture including digital rectifiers and solid-state transformers, characterized by software-defined high-performance power conversion.
Target markets
Data centers, utility-scale storage, and microgrids. Addressing the challenges of an aging US power grid is part of the pitch.
Manufacturing base
Headquartered in Poway, California. US manufacturing footprint expanded roughly tenfold over the past four years.
Post-close position
Folded into Flex's Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment, with a grid-to-chip portfolio as the stated goal.
A domestic manufacturing base carries weight in the current environment, where procurement of grid equipment is facing regulatory pressure. Executive Order 14420, signed in August 2026, brings foreign-manufactured bulk-power system equipment under regulation. Its scope is limited to transmission-level equipment, but the direction of travel raises the value of domestic supply across power infrastructure generally.
How to read this from procurement and design
What this deal signals is that competition in AI data center power has shifted from individual devices to which layers you control. On the semiconductor side, Infineon acquired C2i to bring in vertical power delivery at the chip; on the EMS side, Flex acquired EPC Power to take the intake and conversion stage. Both upstream and downstream, players are moving to own more of the power delivery chain within a single company.
From a procurement standpoint, consolidation of options is worth planning for. When rectifiers and transformers previously sourced from independent suppliers move under a major's ownership, the factors determining supply terms and product roadmaps change. On the other hand, having a counterpart that can deliver grid-to-chip from one company reduces integration effort. Which way it cuts depends on your own design approach, and the decision between continuing separate sourcing versus committing to an integrated portfolio is getting closer.