The story
Founded by Eugène Schneider in 1836, in Le Creusot.1
1836–1963
In 1836, brothers Adolphe and Joseph-Eugene Schneider took over an iron foundry in Le Creusot, France. Two years later, they founded Schneider-Creusot, the company that would eventually become Schneider Electric. Initially, Schneider-Creusot specialized in the production of steel, heavy machinery, and transportation equipment. In 1871, following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the company significantly developed its capacity for weapons manufacturing. Over the first half of the 20th century, Schneider-Creusot continued to grow, establishing manufacturing sites in France and abroad, including in pre-Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia.
1963–1999
In the 1960s, following the death of Charles Schneider, Schneider-Creusot was absorbed by Belgium's Empain group, which merged Schneider-Creusot with its corporate structures to form Empain-Schneider. In 1981, the Empain family sold its controlling stake to Paribas. In the 1980s and 1990s, the company, once again operating under the Schneider name, divested from steel and shipbuilding and, through strategic acquisitions, began to focus on the electricity sector. These acquisitions included Télémécanique in 1988, Square D in 1991, and Merlin Gerin in 1992. In 1996, the company created the holding company Schneider Electric (China) Investment Company Ltd.
1999–present
In January 1999, Schneider acquired the Scandinavian switch-maker Lexel. Later that year, the company renamed itself Schneider Electric, to reflect its focus on the electricity sector. In 2000, Schneider Electric acquired the French controls-maker Crouzet Automatismes from Thomson-CSF and the Swiss motion control specialist SIG Positec from SIG Group.
In October 2006, Schneider Electric announced that it would acquire the data center equipment manufacturer American Power Conversion for $6.1 billion. The following February, the move was finalized following its approval by the European Commission. In June 2010, Schneider and the rolling stock manufacturer Alstom jointly purchased Areva's transmission and distribution businesses in a transaction totaling $2.73 billion.
In 2016, Schneider acquired Tower Electric, a British company that manufactured fixings and fastenings for construction and electrical firms. In 2017, Schneider Electric became the majority shareholder of Aveva, a provider of engineering and industrial software based in the UK. The next year, it acquired the Indian multinational Larsen & Toubro's electrical and automatic business in a cash deal for ₹140 billion (US$1.5 billion).
In February 2020, Schneider made a €1.4 billion takeover bid for German company RIB Software, closing the deal in July 2020. Also in 2020, Schneider Electric acquired ProLeiT AG, a supplier of industrial control and MES software.
In January 2023, Schneider Electric's acquisition of Aveva was finalized.
In November 2023, Schneider Electric finalized its acquisition of EcoAct, a company devoted to climate consulting and net-zero solutions.
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After 18 months in office, CEO Peter Herweck was removed by the board of directors and replaced with Olivier Blum in early November 2024.
In October 2024, Schneider Electric signed an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Motivair Corporation, a company specialized in liquid cooling and advanced thermal management solutions for data centers.
In December 2024, the company announced a partnership with Nvidia to design data center cooling systems.
In March 2025, Schneider Electric announced plans to invest more than US$700 million in its United States operations through 2027, marking the company's largest single capital expenditure in the country.
In October 2026, Schneider Electric agreed to buy the industrial software maker PTC in an all-cash deal, valuing PTC at $22.6 billion. The deal is expected to help bolster Schneider Electric's data center business and is the company's largest ever acquisition.
From Wikipedia’s article on Schneider Electric, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5