Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Germany's FlaktGroup for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) as it looks to meet growing demand for cooling of data centres used for artificial intelligence projects. In the South Korean company's biggest acquisition in eight years, it will purchase the air conditioning and heating systems maker from private equity group Triton. The data centre segment has a high barrier to entry requiring global supply experience and the ability to present optimal designs and solutions, Samsung said in a statement.