Archrock, a Houston company that rents out the engines and compressors that push natural gas through pipelines, has agreed to buy a business that burns the gas instead. Archrock said on 10 November 2026 that it would pay up to $450 million for HiVolt Energy Holdings, a company founded in 2019 that builds and runs gas-fired power systems for oil and gas operators from a base in Midland, Texas.
The price is $415 million in cash at closing and up to $35 million in earnouts tied to commercial milestones, according to Archrock's announcement. Archrock says that is about 6.1 times the midpoint of the $70 million to $75 million of adjusted EBITDA it expects HiVolt to earn in 2028. The deal needs regulatory approval and is expected to close early in 2027.
What is Archrock buying?
Generators on long contracts. HiVolt supplies what the industry calls prime power: electricity generated on site, as the main supply rather than as backup, for industrial customers that, in the release's description, cannot wait for the grid to reach them. Its fleet runs on Caterpillar natural-gas reciprocating engines in blocks of about 1.4 to 2.5 megawatts, according to Archrock's investor presentation.
HiVolt has more than 80 megawatts under contract today and expects more than 175 megawatts in operation in 2028. Its power purchase agreements run five to eight years and are take-or-pay, so the customer pays for capacity whether or not it uses the power. Archrock's own compression contracts run three to five years. More than 95 per cent of HiVolt's expected 2028 earnings come from upstream and midstream oil and gas customers, the presentation says. Data centers appear only in the risk language.
Brad Childers, Archrock's president and chief executive, said combining HiVolt with Archrock's compression business would make Archrock a broader supplier of energy infrastructure. HiVolt will "operate as a separate business segment" and "continue to be led by Josh Evans," the release says.
How does the price compare with Archrock's other deals?
It is the first one priced on earnings that do not yet exist. Archrock has bought two compression fleets since 2024. Both were priced on equipment already running.
| Deal | Announced | Price | What was bought | Price per unit | Seller's stated multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOPS (from Apollo funds) | 22 Jul 2024 | $983m | 580,000 compression horsepower | $1,695 per hp | n/a |
| NGCS | 10 Mar 2025 | $357m | 351,000 compression horsepower | $1,017 per hp | under 7.0 times July 2025 run-rate EBITDA |
| HiVolt | 10 Nov 2026 | up to $450m | more than 80 MW contracted; 175 MW expected in 2028 | up to $5,625 per kW contracted; $2,571 per kW on 2028 capacity | 6.1 times expected 2028 EBITDA |
| NRG plants to LS Power | 9 Nov 2026 | $4,000m | 4.9 GW of gas-fired plants | about $816 per kW | 8.0 times expected 2027 EBITDA |
The per-kilowatt figures are not like for like. NRG's plants are large, finished and sell into wholesale markets. HiVolt's are small, contracted to single customers and partly unbuilt, and the 175-megawatt figure needs further spending that Archrock has not disclosed. What the table does show is how much of the HiVolt price is for growth. On contracted capacity alone it is up to $5,625 a kilowatt. Only on the 2028 fleet does it fall to about $2,571.
The 6.1 multiple uses 2028 earnings, two years out. Archrock says about 70 per cent of that $72.5 million midpoint is supported by projects already operating, contracted or awarded. By subtraction, about 30 per cent, roughly $22 million a year, depends on business HiVolt has not yet won.
How big is HiVolt next to Archrock?
Small. Archrock reaffirmed adjusted EBITDA guidance of $865 million to $885 million for 2026 in its third-quarter results on 2 November. HiVolt's expected 2028 EBITDA is about 8 per cent of the midpoint. Archrock ended September with 4.5 million operating horsepower of compression, which converts to roughly 3,400 megawatts of engine and motor output, by our arithmetic. HiVolt's contracted 80 megawatts is about 2 per cent of that.
The quarter explains the timing. Operating horsepower fell to 4.54 million from 4.65 million a year earlier and utilization slipped to 94.3 per cent from 96.0 per cent, while adjusted EBITDA still rose to $228.4 million. Leverage was 2.5 times, down from 3.1 times. Archrock says it will pay the $415 million from its credit facility and stay within its 3.0 to 3.5 times target. The presentation estimates high-teens unlevered returns for HiVolt projects against mid-teens for compression.
What to watch
Approvals and the earnout. The $35 million is payable only if HiVolt hits commercial milestones, so once the deal closes, Archrock's quarterly reports should show whether the contracted megawatts come online on time and the uncontracted 30 per cent gets signed. The broader test is the one that has drawn gas-power buyers this month, from LS Power's purchase of NRG plants to the 42 gigawatts of gas-turbine orders at Siemens Energy: whether demand for electricity in places the grid cannot reach lasts longer than the contracts written to serve it.
Deal terms, capacity, contract terms, return estimates, customer mix and Brad Childers's comments are from Archrock's press release and investor presentation filed with the SEC on 10 November 2026. Archrock's third-quarter figures and 2026 guidance are from its results release of 2 November 2026. TOPS terms are from Archrock's release of 22 July 2024 and NGCS terms from its release of 10 March 2025. NRG figures are from our report of 10 November 2026. Prices per horsepower and per kilowatt, the horsepower conversion and the EBITDA share are this publication's arithmetic. The analysis is our own.
Topics businessenergynatural gasPermian Basinpower generationmergers and acquisitions
