---
title: "Flex paid $4.4 billion for EPC Power days after the ITC opened Vicor's patent case naming Flex"
description: "Flex paid $4.4 billion in cash, a quarter of it on a one-year bridge loan, to own more of the exact power layer Vicor just persuaded the ITC to investigate across nine suppliers."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-27T15:29:03.342Z
modified: 2026-10-27T15:29:03.342Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/flex-paid-4-4-billion-for-epc-power-days-after-the-itc-opened-vicor-s-patent-case-naming-flex
language: en
keywords: "Flex, Vicor, M&A, Patents, Data Centers"
---

# Flex paid $4.4 billion for EPC Power days after the ITC opened Vicor's patent case naming Flex

> Flex paid $4.4 billion in cash, a quarter of it on a one-year bridge loan, to own more of the exact power layer Vicor just persuaded the ITC to investigate across nine suppliers.

Two filings landed within hours of each other and neither mentions the other. On October 14, 2026, the Federal Register published [the International Trade Commission's notice opening a patent investigation into AI-server power systems](https://financeintime.com/news/2026/10/23/itc-opens-patent-probe-of-ai-server-power-systems-naming-foxconn-quanta-and-flex), with [Flex](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/flex) Ltd. named among the respondents [1]. The same day, Flex [completed its $4.4 billion cash purchase of EPC Power](https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/flex-completes-epc-power-acquisition/), a maker of the power conversion equipment at the heart of that case, [funded in part by a $1.1 billion bridge loan that matures on October 13, 2027](https://theinference.org/article/flex-funded-its-4-4-billion-epc-power-purchase-with-loans-due-october-13-2027-ahead-of-the-axiom-spin-off) [2][3][4]. Flex plans to hand the whole business, plus its Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment, to shareholders as a listed company called Axiom Solutions International in the first quarter of 2027, 88% to 94% of shares distributed to Flex holders [2][3].

## What Vicor wants, and what it is already paid

[Vicor](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vicor), the Andover, Massachusetts power-module maker, filed the complaint on September 9 under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, alleging infringement of claims of its U.S [1]. Patent 10,903,734 and asking for a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against "vertical power delivery systems" used to power AI accelerators, tensor and graphics processors [1]. The Commission voted to institute the case on October 9; that opens an investigation "to determine whether there is a violation," a finding it has not made [1][8].

[Vicor's own release](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/usitc-institutes-investigation-of-vertical-power-delivery-vpd-modules-and-computing-systems-infringing-a-vicor-patent-1036616308) puts the commercial design plainly: OEMs and hyperscalers whose systems include respondent components "will need a license from Vicor," and royalty rates "escalat[e] as the USITC investigation advances to a Limited Exclusion Order" [8]. [Its third quarter shows the meter running](https://www.ainvest.com/news/vicor-meltdown-hasn-ai-story-cheap-2610/): revenue of $197.1 million, up 78.5% year over year, royalties of $66.6 million, about a third of revenue, at a 68.3% gross margin [5].

*Chart: **Vicor's revenue jumped 78.5% year over year to $197.1 million in the September quarter** Column chart of Vicor's quarterly revenue rising from $107.84 million in the September 2023 quarter to $197.1 million in the September 2026 quarter*

*Quarterly revenue, millions of US dollars, Vicor fiscal quarters through September 2026; the latest column is the fiscal third quarter reported this week. Sources: Ainvest, 27 October 2026; Vicor, quarterly figures from its SEC filings. [5][10]*

## Nine groups, one shared supply chain

The respondents are Delta Electronics, Infineon, Luxshare, [Monolithic Power Systems](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/monolithic-power-systems), Flex, [Celestica](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/celestica), Quanta, Hon Hai's [Foxconn](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/foxconn-hon-hai-precision-industry) and Ingrasys, nine corporate groups and 20 named entities with their affiliates [1][8]. These are the companies that build and power the racks the AI data centers buy. Flex sits in that list as both a manufacturer of AI servers and, since October 14, an owner of power conversion technology [2][3].

The stock noticed the money, if not the lawsuit. Flex shares fell almost 6% after the close and traded at $76.55 on October 23 against a 52-week high of $166.86 [2][7]. The bridge loan carries quarterly covenants, debt no more than 4.5 times EBITDA and interest coverage of at least three times, during precisely the quarters when Flex is redrawing its corporate structure [2]. An amendment filed October 13 converts [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)'s warrant on up to 3,859,851 Flex shares at $51.29 into a warrant on Axiom shares struck at $0.01, sized from intrinsic value just before the distribution [2].

## The docket is not in the math

Vicor's quarter carries its own soft spots: backlog rose 7% to $406 million, but the flow into it shrank for a third straight quarter [5].

*Chart: **Vicor's order flow shrank three quarters running even as backlog grew** Vicor's quarterly net backlog additions fall from $124 million to $79 million to $26 million across three quarters of fiscal 2026, even as total backlog rose to $406 million*

*Net additions to backlog by fiscal quarter, millions of US dollars; total backlog still ended the quarter 7% higher, at $406 million. Source: Ainvest, 27 October 2026. [5]*

Management still guided royalties of at least $43 million next quarter assuming no new licenses [5]. The stock still trades near 103 times forward earnings [5]. For Flex, [previews put consensus at $1.05 a share on about $8.18 billion of revenue](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/flex-report-q2-earnings-whats-114900795.html) for the quarter it reports October 28, with the Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment guided to grow revenue 45% to 55% year over year and more than 90% of its remaining fiscal-year business booked [9].

*Chart: **Flex's revenue has risen for five straight quarters; consensus sees $8.18 billion next** Column chart of Flex's quarterly revenue rising from $6.93 billion in the September 2023 quarter to a consensus estimate of $8.18 billion for the September 2026 quarter*

*Quarterly revenue, billions of US dollars; the final column is analyst consensus for the quarter Flex reports on October 28, not company guidance. Sources: Zacks Equity Research via Yahoo Finance, 26 October 2026; Flex, quarterly figures from its SEC filings. [9][11]*

Institution is not liability, and respondents will contest infringement and validity; an ITC case can also settle into licensing on terms nobody has disclosed [1]. But the geometry is hard to miss: Vicor collects escalating royalties on the layer Flex just bought deeper into, the exclusion order Vicor seeks would land on the segment Flex intends to take public, and roughly 90 days sit between the October 28 print and the planned Axiom separation [2][5][8]. Neither Flex's 8-K nor its press release prices any of it [2][3]. The debt, the warrant and the patent all mature on the same rack.

## Takeaway

Flex closed the $4.4 billion EPC Power purchase the same day the ITC's notice named it in Vicor's patent case over the same power layer, leaving royalties, a possible exclusion order, the October 28 print and the Axiom spin-off running on one clock.

## Sources

1. [FinanceInTime, ITC opens patent probe of AI-server power systems, naming Foxconn, Quanta and Flex, 23 October 2026](https://financeintime.com/news/2026/10/23/itc-opens-patent-probe-of-ai-server-power-systems-naming-foxconn-quanta-and-flex)
2. [Jain.com (Deepak Jain), Flex's $4.4B AI Power Deal Leans on a 364-Day Loan Due After Its Planned Spin-Off, 23 October 2026](https://www.jain.com/flex-completes-4-4b-epc-power-acquisition-shares-drop-6-percent/)
3. [Power Electronics News, Flex Completes EPC Power Acquisition, 27 October 2026](https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/flex-completes-epc-power-acquisition/)
4. [Superpower Daily, Flex completes $4.4 billion EPC Power acquisition to add AI power infrastructure, 20 October 2026](https://superpowerdaily.com/posts/flex-completes-4-4-billion-epc-power-acquisition-to-add-ai-power-infrastructure)
5. [Ainvest (Harrison Brooks), Vicor's Meltdown Hasn't Made Its AI Story Cheap, 27 October 2026](https://www.ainvest.com/news/vicor-meltdown-hasn-ai-story-cheap-2610/)
7. [Ad-hoc-news.de, Flex stock trades below its Frankfurt close at EUR 68.36, 24 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/flex-stock-trades-below-its-frankfurt-close-at-eur-68-36/70405900)
8. [GlobeNewswire via Markets Insider, USITC Institutes Investigation of Vertical Power Delivery (VPD) Modules and Computing Systems Infringing a Vicor Patent, 12 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/usitc-institutes-investigation-of-vertical-power-delivery-vpd-modules-and-computing-systems-infringing-a-vicor-patent-1036616308)
9. [Zacks Equity Research via Yahoo Finance, Flex to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in the Cards for the Stock?, 26 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/flex-report-q2-earnings-whats-114900795.html)
10. [Vicor, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000751978)
11. [Flex, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000866374)


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Flex paid $4.4 billion for EPC Power days after the ITC opened Vicor's patent case naming Flex — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/flex-paid-4-4-billion-for-epc-power-days-after-the-itc-opened-vicor-s-patent-case-naming-flex