By Inti Landauro
PARIS--Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR) Friday said all anti-trust
authorities have approved its 3.4 billion pound ($5.57 billion)
takeover of U.K.-based Invensys PLC (SYS.LN), a deal that will lift
the French company to global main player level within industrial
automation.
Given both companies' global reach, anti-trust authorities in
many countries had to approve the merger, Schneider Electric said,
citing the U.S., the European Union, China, Canada and Brazil.
In July, Schneider Electric offered to pay 502 pence a share to
Invensys shareholders in a mix of cash and shares, a deal that
values the company at GBP3.4 billion pounds. The offer was approved
by a majority of shareholders which the company's board unanimously
recommended to them.
Schneider, with annual revenue of 23.9 billion euros ($32.92
billion), has in recent years made a big push into providing
industrial sites with offer bundles of electrical and industrial
equipment, and software and services, instead of selling low
voltage devices which is its historical business.
The company is especially keen to develop in emerging markets
such as China. Schneider Electric Chief Executive Jean-Pascal
Tricoire is currently based in Hong Kong.
Demand is growing fast as companies seek to extract cost savings
from smarter management of industrial systems--from assembly lines
to data centers, petrochemical plants and power stations--amid
rising energy costs, tougher environmental regulations, and
increasingly globalized supply chains.
The operating margin on the sale of bundled services is lower,
but the business is less capital intensive.
In the automation industry, Schneider Electric was strong in
selling small devices to the suppliers of big machinery for the
manufacturing industry, a business dubbed "discreet automation,"
while Invensys delivers whole automated operations for large
industrial plants such as mines and oil fields. With the takeover
Schneider becomes a global player in line with Siemens AG,
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Rockwell Automation Inc.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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