The story
Founded by Ralph Liebert in 1965.1
1946–1965: Capitol Refrigeration Industries
Vertiv began as Capitol Refrigeration Industries, established in 1946 by Ralph Liebert (1918-1984) in Columbus, Ohio. Liebert developed the first prototype precision air conditioner in his garage. In early 1965, the prototype was introduced to IBM in Chicago. Recognising the machine's potential, IBM arranged for Liebert to debut his invention at the World Computer Conference in Philadelphia.
1965–2000: Liebert Corporation
Liebert Corporation was formed in 1965 with five associates as the industry's first manufacturer of computer room air conditioning (CRAC) systems. Two years later, in 1967, Liebert made its first international move by establishing a Canadian distributor network. In 1968, the company moved into a new facility in Worthington, Ohio. As its business continued to grow, the company broke ground once again and moved into a 150,000 square foot facility in Columbus, Ohio. In 1977, Liebert launched Conditioned Power Corporation to design and manufacture power distribution, conditioning and monitoring systems for the data processing industry.
Expansion continued as Liebert broke ground for a second major manufacturing facility in Delaware, Ohio, in 1980. Ralph Liebert's son, Larry Liebert, took over the company as president in 1980 and served in this position until 1989. In 1981, Liebert became a public company, listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol LIEB. In 1983, Liebert acquired Franklin Electric subsidiary, Programmed Power Corporation, expanding the company's power division capabilities to include the design and manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). That same year, Liebert opened its first overseas production facility in Cork, Ireland. Liebert Corporation was acquired by Emerson Electric in March 1987, remaining a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson.
2000–2016: Emerson Network Power
In 2000, Emerson formed its Network Power (ENP) business unit, consolidating critical infrastructure technologies under a single brand. In 2001, the company increased its presence in Asia with the purchase of Avansys and formation of ENP India. ENP expanded its telecom industry solutions with the 2004 acquisition of Marconi outside plant and power system. In 2006, ENP acquired Germany-based Knürr, a provider of enclosure systems. In 2007, the Energy Logic energy efficiency model was developed and released. Avocent and Chloride Group were acquired in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
2016–present: Vertiv
In December 2016, Platinum Equity acquired the ENP business from Emerson Electric in a transaction valued in excess of $4 billion. The company was rebranded as Vertiv, and Emerson retained a subordinated equity stake. Vertiv launched as a stand-alone business and appointed Rob Johnson as chief executive officer.
In 2017, Vertiv sold its ASCO power switch business to Schneider Electric for $1.25 billion. The company made three acquisitions in 2018: Energy Labs, Geist and MEMS. Through a merger with a Goldman Sachs-led special purpose acquisition company, GS Acquisition Holdings, Vertiv became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: VRT) on February 10, 2020.
In 2021, Vertiv acquired E+I Engineering, a global provider of switchgear, busway and modular power solutions, for $1.8 billion. In 2023, Vertiv's share price increased 252%, outperforming all companies in the S&P 500 index.
In March 2026, the company was added to the S&P 500 under the Industrials GICS Sector. As of 2026, the company is also part of the Fortune 500 list (No. 416) and of the 2025 Forbes Global 2000 (No. 1,174).
From Wikipedia’s article on Vertiv, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8