Who Owns Avocent?

Avocent Corporation was founded in 1988 in Huntsville, Alabama. The company's initial focus was keyboard, video, and mouse switching technology, which allowed data center administrators to control multiple physical servers from a single console workstation. Before KVM switches, operating multiple servers required a dedicated keyboard, monitor, and mouse for each machine, creating significant space and cost inefficiencies in server rooms.

Through the 1990s, Avocent expanded its product line to include analog and digital KVM switches in configurations ranging from small office deployments to large enterprise data center installations supporting hundreds or thousands of servers. The company went public and grew both organically and through acquisitions. Notable purchases included Cybex International's server management division in 2003 and Equinox Systems, a provider of serial console servers, in 2003 as well. These additions broadened Avocent's capabilities into out-of-band management and serial port access, complementing its core KVM business.

By the mid-2000s, Avocent had become one of the two dominant KVM switch vendors in the enterprise market alongside ATEN International. The company introduced IP-based KVM over IP products that allowed administrators to manage servers remotely over a network rather than requiring physical presence in the data center, a significant operational improvement for organizations managing geographically distributed infrastructure.

Emerson Electric announced the acquisition of Avocent in September 2009 for approximately $1.2 billion, completing the transaction in December 2009. Emerson integrated Avocent into its Network Power division alongside brands including Liebert (power and thermal management) and Chloride (power protection). Under Emerson's ownership, Avocent continued product development and maintained its market position, though the business operated within the constraints of a large industrial conglomerate focused primarily on power and thermal management rather than IT management.

In December 2016, Platinum Equity completed the acquisition of Emerson's Network Power division for approximately $4 billion, renaming the entity Vertiv. Avocent retained its brand identity within the new Vertiv structure alongside Liebert and other infrastructure brands. Vertiv went public in February 2020 through a SPAC transaction. The company has since grown significantly, driven first by general data center expansion and more recently by the surge in AI infrastructure investment.